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DHistory |
 1919 -------------------------------------------------------------------- To serve a growing population of 2,000 residents, on October 1, 1919, the Garden City Police Department was established with eighteen officers, three "Indian" motorcycles and one bicycle. Aloysius T. Conran was appointed as the department's first chief of police. By the end of the 1920's, the department added one patrolman, five bicycles, one used automobile and a communication systems consisting of three outside telephones connected directly to police headquarters. Patrolmen contacted each other either by police whistle, pounding a night stick on the pavement or blowing the horn four times from a patrol car. |
Police chief A.T. Conran, with Ptl. A.M. Vandewater, with a 1922 police wagon |
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EVENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------- During world war II in the early 1940s several officers attended courses given by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on protective measures against war gases and explosives. The officers then instructed other members of the police department and local civil defense groups. In 1947, a Traffic Violations Bureau was established in police headquarters for handling the records and fines for violations of parking regulations. The police department in 1948, became the first to use radar for speed enforcement in New York State. |
Left to Right: Ptl. Charles Mayerhofer and Ptl. Arthur Fredericks setting up the radar in 1948 |
| MECHANICAL COP ----------------------------- By 1954, surveys showed Nassau County population had reach over one million. Since Garden City is located in the center of the county, the increase in traffic over the roadway became a major problem. To cope with the traffic, civilian crossing guards were assigned to cover school crossings, and safety education programs were carried out. A portable traffic light called a "Mechanical Cop" was to control the flow of heavy traffic. In addition, the department acquired an electrical timing |
Two Patrolmen on their Harley- Davidson motorcycles alongside a 1950 Pontiac patrol car. |
-------------------------------------- device called a Speed Watch torecord speeders. Estimations in 1955 showed that traffic in Nassau County had increased by thirty percent with the full impact of the rise affecting Garden City. That increase was evident not only on the arteries but also on the side streets which motorist used to avoid traffic lights. At the close of the 1950s, the strength of the department increased to sixty officers. The department equipment than consisted of ten motor vehicles, four motorcycles, two radar units and two speed watches. |
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PHOTO PATROL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In 1960, the department became one of the first police agencies in the United States to install the Photo Patrol. Photo Patrol used a device that enabled a police officer to present in the village court a photograph showing location, date, time, plate number and speed of the vehicle. The motorized fleet consisting of eleven cars, two motorcycles and one three-wheel motorcycle, covered a total of 336,000 miles of patrol for an average of 992 miles per day. Use of the two-wheel motorcycles has been discontinued. The Garden City Police Department with its authorized strength of sixty became one of the most advanced in the State of New York. This was accomplished by periodic courses of instruction by the FBI and the Nassau County Police Department which kept the police officer well informed on the latest development of law enforcement work. New recruits received their four months training at the county academy. |
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EMBLEM -------------------------------------------------------------------- On August 1, 1963, the police established a shoulder emblem bearing the New York State seal in blue and gold and a door decal for the marked patrol cars. A resolution was passed on July 18, 1968, authorizing the position of police cadet. Police cadets were used for traffic, parking enforcement and various other assignments not requiring a police officer. Cadets go through the same police academy training as police officers, and when they turn twenty-one years of age they become police officers. During November of that year, the color of the patrol vehicles was change from black to white increase their visibility in deterring crime. |
