Under the large stairway leading up to the first floor of the City Hall there was a basement level hallway that rain the width of the above stairway. At both the north and south end of this hallway was an entrance marked with a small neon sign that read,"Police." (As a personal note, I sure wish those old signs had been saved. They belong in the current Abilene Police Department Museum.) In the center of this Hallway was a set of double glass doors leading into the Police Station. As people entered these double doors into the lobby they would find a few wooden theater style seats. If they turned to the left, there was a window into the Court Clerk's Office. There they could pay traffic tickets, other fines or post bonds for prisoners. If they turned to the right they would enter a long hall that fronted a number of offices including the Chief of Police, the Traffic Captain, The Detective Bureau and at the very end of the hall, the Identification bureau. Directly in front of them, they faced a large counter about the height of the average home kitchen counter top. It was at this point that Police Officers waited upon the public.About 50 to 60 feet west of that was an identical counter. This was the booking desk. Prisoners were brought into the basement through a door from a basement level driveway.
Against the south outside wall was near the booking desk was a room that was approximately eight ft by eight ft. This was the radio room.In addition to the low band FM Base Station radio, there were receivers the Texas Department of Public Safety, area Sheriffs Offices and other area law enforcement agencies. The primary DPS frequency was 42.9 and most Sheriffs' Offices and many small town Police Departments operated on the 37.180 frequency. There was also a short wave radio receiver. There were no dispatchers at that time. The Police Officer who handled radio communications was known as the Radio Operator. A Federal Radiotelephone Operator's License was required at that time to operate the Base Station Radio. No license was required to operate the radios in patrol cars.
Against the north wall running about half the length of this room was a vault in which evidence and assorted police equipment was stored. At the east end of this wall was a short hallway entrance into the larger hallway that fronted various offices. On the west side of that short hallway there was a very large closet in which uniforms were stored. The inside of this closet went back to the south end of the vault.
A row of offices lined the north wall of the basement of the City Hall. The Chief's Office was the first in this row, the corner office at the north east corner. Immediately west of the Chief's office was the Traffic Captain's Office. The Chief and the Traffic Captain shared a secretary. Immediately west of that office was a suite of 3 offices occupied by the Detective Bureau. Captain Walter B. "Red" McDonald commanded the Detective Bureau at that time. His second in command was Lieutenant George Sutton. Capt. McDonald's office was the first of the three, immediately west of the Traffic Captain's Office. A hallway fronted these offices. The west end of this hall opened into a large room that contained the Identification Bureau. Lieutenant Grover Chronister was the Identification Officer. He and a secretary had desks in this room. The remainder of the space in this room was filled with records and a space for fingerprinting and photographing prisoners.
The Jail area was located west of the hallway leading into the booking desk. Immediately after entering the Jail area on the north wall was another closet which contained a .45 caliber.Thompson Sub machine gun, ammunition and other police equipment.
Against the north wall running about half the length of this room was a vault in which evidence and assorted police equipment was stored. At the east end of this wall was a short hallway entrance into the larger hallway that fronted various offices. On the west side of that short hallway there was a very large closet in which uniforms were stored. The inside of this closet went back to the south end of the vault.
A row of offices lined the north wall of the basement of the City Hall. The Chief's Office was the first in this row, the corner office at the north east corner. Immediately west of the Chief's office was the Traffic Captain's Office. The Chief and the Traffic Captain shared a secretary. Immediately west of that office was a suite of 3 offices occupied by the Detective Bureau. Captain Walter B. "Red" McDonald commanded the Detective Bureau at that time. His second in command was Lieutenant George Sutton. Capt. McDonald's office was the first of the three, immediately west of the Traffic Captain's Office. A hallway fronted these offices. The west end of this hall opened into a large room that contained the Identification Bureau. Lieutenant Grover Chronister was the Identification Officer. He and a secretary had desks in this room. The remainder of the space in this room was filled with records and a space for fingerprinting and photographing prisoners.
The Jail area was located west of the hallway leading into the booking desk. Immediately after entering the Jail area on the north wall was another closet which contained a .45 caliber.Thompson Sub machine gun, ammunition and other police equipment.
Under the large stairway leading up to the first floor of the City Hall there was a basement level hallway that rain the width of the above stairway. At both the north and south end of this hallway was an entrance marked with a small neon sign that read,"Police." (As a personal note, I sure wish those old signs had been saved. They belong in the current Abilene Police Department Museum.) In the center of this Hallway was a set of double glass doors leading into the Police Station. As people entered these double doors into the lobby they would find a few wooden theater style seats. If they turned to the left, there was a window into the Court Clerk's Office. There they could pay traffic tickets, other fines or post bonds for prisoners. If they turned to the right they would enter a long hall that fronted a number of offices including the Chief of Police, the Traffic Captain, The Detective Bureau and at the very end of the hall, the Identification bureau. Directly in front of them, they faced a large counter about the height of the average home kitchen counter top. It was at this point that Police Officers waited upon the public.About 40 to 50 feet west of that was an identical counter. This was the booking desk. Prisoners were brought into the basement through a door from a basement level driveway. It was between these two counters that the desk officer, the radio operator and supervisors worked. There were at least two wooden desks in this space. Later a teletype machine was placed in this area and still later a switchboard was added to handle telephone calls for the department.
Against the south outside wall was near the booking desk was a room that was approximately eight ft by eight ft. This was the radio room.In addition to the low band FM Base Station radio, there were receivers to monitor the Texas Department of Public Safety, area Sheriffs Offices and other area law enforcement agencies. The primary DPS frequency was 42.9 and most Sheriffs' Offices and many small town Police Departments operated on the 37.180 frequency. There was also a short wave radio receiver. There were no dispatchers at that time. The Police Officer who handled radio communications was known as the Radio Operator. A Federal Radiotelephone Operator's License was required at that time to operate the Base Station Radio. No license was required to operate the radios in patrol cars.
Against the north wall running about half the length of this room was a vault in which evidence and assorted police equipment was stored. At the east end of the outer wall of the vault was a short hallway entrance into the longer hallway that fronted various offices. On the west side of that short hallway there was a very large closet in which uniforms were stored. The inside of this closet went back to the south end of the vault.
A row of offices lined the north wall of the basement of the City Hall. The Chief's Office was the first in this row, the corner office at the north east corner. Immediately west of the Chief's office was the Traffic Captain's Office. The Chief and the Traffic Captain shared a secretary. Immediately west of that office was a suite of 3 offices occupied by the Detective Bureau. Captain Walter B. "Red" McDonald commanded the Detective Bureau at that time. His second in command was Lieutenant George Sutton. Capt. McDonald's office was the first of the three, immediately west of the Traffic Captain's Office. A hallway fronted these offices. The west end of this hall opened into a large room that contained the Identification Bureau. Lieutenant Grover Chronister was the Identification Officer. He and a secretary had desks in this room. The remainder of the space in this room was filled with records and a space for fingerprinting and photographing prisoners.
Against the north wall running about half the length of this room was a vault in which evidence and assorted police equipment was stored. At the east end of the outer wall of the vault was a short hallway entrance into the longer hallway that fronted various offices. On the west side of that short hallway there was a very large closet in which uniforms were stored. The inside of this closet went back to the south end of the vault.
A row of offices lined the north wall of the basement of the City Hall. The Chief's Office was the first in this row, the corner office at the north east corner. Immediately west of the Chief's office was the Traffic Captain's Office. The Chief and the Traffic Captain shared a secretary. Immediately west of that office was a suite of 3 offices occupied by the Detective Bureau. Captain Walter B. "Red" McDonald commanded the Detective Bureau at that time. His second in command was Lieutenant George Sutton. Capt. McDonald's office was the first of the three, immediately west of the Traffic Captain's Office. A hallway fronted these offices. The west end of this hall opened into a large room that contained the Identification Bureau. Lieutenant Grover Chronister was the Identification Officer. He and a secretary had desks in this room. The remainder of the space in this room was filled with records and a space for fingerprinting and photographing prisoners.
There was a door on the south outer wall from the basement level driveway. Prisoners were brought in through that door to the booking desk. If a person turned right (east) after entering through that door they would enter the Corporation (Later changed to Municipal) Court Room. The Court Room was also used as a briefing room and a training room. The Court Room was along the south wall adjacant to the basement level driveway.
The Jail area was located west of the hallway leading into the booking desk. Immediately after entering the Jail area on the north wall was another closet which contained a .45 caliber.Thompson Sub machine gun, ammunition and other police equipment.
The Jail was designed as follows: Along the south (outside) wall were three cells. The first was the drunk tank. All drunks were held for a minimum of four hours before they could post Bond. The second was for prisoners other than drunks who had not yet been tried or posted Bond. Often it was necessary, however, to put drunks in this cell also. The third cell was for prisoners who had been tried, found guilty and had not paid fines or posted Bond. Many served out their fines at $1.00 per day.
Around the corner to the right there was a women's cell on the right. It was back to back with the large room that housed Records and ID. There was a cell in the south west corner plus another larger cell along the back (west) wall of the building. The latter two cells were used primarily for dangerous or violent prisoners. They were also used for overflow of convicted prisoners or as necessary.
There were no Jailers at that time. Desk Officers, the Sergeant and the Captain on duty performed the duties of a jailer. It was in the environment of working as a Desk Officer that I learned what became my philosophy of police and jail operations including a records system that I would take with me to Hamlin and later to Bowie as Chief of Police. It was a records system that at the time was recommended by the FBI. With such a records system it was easy to compile monthly Uniform Crime Reports for the FBI.
Most of what I learned about the Abilene Police Department prior to 1954 was from my uncle, J. T. "Bus" Wasson. my dad J.B. "Jake" Wasson or from Chief Ruck Sibley, my 2nd cousin.
At that time there was no formal roll call. Officers entered the building through the door from the drive into the Police Station. They made a right turn and entered the Court room. When officers came to work to start a shift, they signed in on sheets on a clipboard. Each officer was required to read the blotter from the time they last were on duty. It was in a 3 ring binder and was passed around from officer to officer. The Captain or the Sergeant made assignments. Officers then went to their assigned cars and drove to their beat (The word District was not used at that time) or walked to the area of their assigned walking beat. All new officers started out walking a beat. There were other officers who also walked beats. These were senior officers who wanted simpler working conditions other than answering calls, investigating accidents and breaking up fights. There were also a few officers that due to age and or physical condition as well as injury chose to walk a beat.
Most of what I learned about the Abilene Police Department prior to 1954 was from my uncle, J. T. "Bus" Wasson. my dad J.B. "Jake" Wasson or from Chief Ruck Sibley, my 2nd cousin.
At that time there was no formal roll call. Officers entered the building through the door from the drive into the Police Station. They made a right turn and entered the Court room. When officers came to work to start a shift, they signed in on sheets on a clipboard. Each officer was required to read the blotter from the time they last were on duty. It was in a 3 ring binder and was passed around from officer to officer. The Captain or the Sergeant made assignments. Officers then went to their assigned cars and drove to their beat (The word District was not used at that time) or walked to the area of their assigned walking beat. All new officers started out walking a beat. There were other officers who also walked beats. These were senior officers who wanted simpler working conditions other than answering calls, investigating accidents and breaking up fights. There were also a few officers that due to age and or physical condition as well as injury chose to walk a beat.
The northside walking beats at that time were Pine street and Cypress Street. Tuffy Middleton was permantely assigned to the Pine Street beat for the day shift. Mr. Boyd was permanently assigned to the Cypress street beat for the day shift. Various officers were assigned to these two beats on the evening and midnight shifts. North and south boundries for both the Pine and Cypress Street beats were fron North 1st to North 6th. The east/ west boundries for thePine Street beat was from the alley between pine and cypress to the alley behind walnut street. (Note: if sufficient personnel were on duty, Pine was split into North Pine and South Pine). The east/ west boundries for the Cypress Street was the alley between Pine and Cedar and Cypress Street Street.
The Southside walking beats were Chestnut and South Warehouse. The South Warehouse beat was a permanent assignment. Fred Brannon walked that beat. He had a big Chow dog that stayed with him all the time. If he was off, the South East Car covered his beat. There were a lot of security lights on that beat that were turned on at dusk and turned off close to dawn.
The Southside walking beats were Chestnut and South Warehouse. The South Warehouse beat was a permanent assignment. Fred Brannon walked that beat. He had a big Chow dog that stayed with him all the time. If he was off, the South East Car covered his beat. There were a lot of security lights on that beat that were turned on at dusk and turned off close to dawn.
I was told by a former Abilene Police Officer that during WWII there had also been a North Warehouse walking beat. I was told that walking that beat at night was a rather spooky experience. This beat covered everything east of, but not including Walnut Street from North 1st Street to North 6th Street and extended east to the area where North Treadaway now is. Treadaway Blvd. did not exist during WWII. By the time I went to work that area was covered by the N.E. Car Beat.
The Abilene, Texas Police Department
Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
Tales of the Abilene Police Department
Tales of the APD
Police
The Abilene, Texas Police Department
Abilene, Taylor County, Texas
Tales of the Abilene Police Department
Tales of the APD
Police
My uncle was Lt Grover Chronister. He had five brothers and a sister. Many in this family in law enforcement including his brother Lt Earl Chronister and his son Sgt Tim Chronister of Peoria , IL
ReplyDelete