Quick Response Team
 
QRT
"Quick Response Team"

QRT - Baltimore's "Quick Response Team" began forming in 1976; shortly before the Lombard and Carey St. sniper incident, members of Tactical Units realized a need for better training, and better equipment, to handle riots, barricade and hostage-type situations. Following in the footsteps on other agencies, they were going to name their team SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) But the department (Frank Battaglia, to be more precise, didn’t think any sort of "S.W.A.T." function was necessary and tried to stop the program at every opportunity.) They found the word “SWAT” to be too harsh (Political Correctness circa 1975/76) QRT was the name eventually chosen by then Col. Robinson after suggestions from TAC personnel were solicited on top of the political correctness, Robinson also wanted to distinguish BPD from LAPD, NYPD, etc.; thus, he went with QRT over SWAT The following pictures taken from the Baltimore Sun paper will show some of our earliest members of QRT, our founding fathers, you might say, of today's Baltimore SWAT team (BTW in 2006 after 20 years, the department finally gives in, and joins 1976 - just kidding, the men and women that have worked QRT/SWAT over the years have been some of the elite, in an already elite department of police that took pride in their job, and in protecting the citizens they swore to protect) 

For a More Detailed History Click Here

Photo was taken by Sun Photographer Joseph A. Dialola

The QRT officer in the back might be Lenny Rummo? The first officer ringing the doorbell is John McGuire; behind John is Frank Icanvino (sp?). Officer McGuire left the BPD soon after this photo was taken to work for the State Department. photo was taken at 1010 Broadway as QRT was looking for a shooting suspect back in July-03-1978

Picture Taken by Sunpaper Photographer Walter McCardell
Left to Right Officer Dennis Dean, Officer Ronnie Hubbard, and Officer Al Erhardt

October 29, 1976, As members of Quick Response Team (QRT), suit up on Greenspring Ave. the call came out as a man with a gun in the 5800 block of Western Run Dr. - The Newspaper article said - Police don flak jackets for a foray against what turned out to be a juvenile prankster. So if you ever wonder why police approach every scene with caution, now you know, they don't know the dangerous calls, from the prank calls, the good guys from the bad guys, and just like you, they want to go home at the end of their shift.

Quick Response Team  

Seen standing in this pic with a.30 cal. carbine rifle covering the front of the location (1500 blk Federal St) in 1978, is Jerry DeManss. This was the location where Officer Mike Casizzi was shot in the stomach. I worked Mike Casizzi years later, he was good police. 

The First QRT Squad - A-3. 

From left to right, STANDING:  EVU Officer? and EVU Sgt. Dave Bryant, A-3 Squad Officers Roger Rose, Jim Sebore (sp.), Gary Green, Mike Speedling, Kelly Allen, Lee Baker, Norm Bleakly, Andy Gersey;  KNEELING:  Sgt. Joe Key, Steve Grennell, George Smith, Mike Hurm, Lenny Rummo, Ed Schillo, Bob Letmate.  This photo was taken at Gunpowder Range in Feb. 1976 when the squad was trained by the FBI in SWAT ops.  Roger Rose broke his arm during the training and left the squad.  The blue coveralls were bought from a company that made uniforms for bread truck drivers.  A-3 was the only squad operational during Lombard and Carey and for two-three months afterward.  The G.O. authorizing QRT wasn’t signed until I left QRT on Oct. 77

Sgt. Ed Schillo

 
QRT Counter Sniper

To become a QRT/SWAT Counter Snipers, the marksman has to practice all the time, and their qualifying test has them shooting the .308, at targets less than half the size of a human skull, from a distance of as much as 75 yards on a timed course, and the marksman has to shoot a 100% in order to make Marksman and become a "Counter Sniper".  

Baltimore SWAT Team

QRT (Quick Response Team) is renamed SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) After 32 years, the department finally changes the name of this highly trained, elite team. Initially, in 1974 while forming the team, the department was against using the name SWAT because they felt the name was too harsh for the department's image. Political correctness circa 1974.)

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Basic Training Sniper School

"No matter how tired or sweaty I felt, when a situation was resolved and we (the team ) were leaving the location with the usual media crush with lights and cameras on, I would not, at that moment, trade places with anyone in the world" A quote from Jerry DeManss and all the QRT'ers

Left to right is Lt. Schillo, Lt. Gutberlet, & Sgt. Munyan

 Courtesy Lt. Don Healy

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Bunker training

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Chuck Thompson at Training Site

Courtesy Lt. Don Healy

 Courtesy Lt. Don Healy

Courtesy Lt. Don Healy

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
FBI QRT Training A3 Squad 1

Quick Response Team

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
House Entry

SWAT
Special Weapons And Tactics

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Kuhn Chase St 1987 Bunker Saves Life

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Kuhn Chase St May 1987

 SUN PHOTO

Photo courtesy Herb Moseley

Photo courtesy Herb Moseley

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Kuhn Rappell Training Tie Off Cover with Long Gun

Agt DeManss & Agt Schillo
Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Photo Certification

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Schmidt, Taylor, Gilbart, Thomas, Williams, Ellis, Wocjik, Rose

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Sniper Training

Courtesy Lt Joe Key
Steve Woody at Camden Yards

Paul Renaud, Brad Thomas, Mark Janicki, Guy Thacker, and Chris Timms

SWAT ("Special Weapons And Tactics") is a commonly-used proper name for law enforcement units, which use military-style light weapons and specialized tactics in high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular, uniformed police. "SWAT" is commonly-used internationally, as a colloquial, generic term for these units.

Their duties include: confronting heavily-armed criminals; performing hostage rescue and counter-terrorism operations; high-risk arrests and; entering armored or barricaded buildings. Such units are often equipped with specialized firearms including sub-machine guns, assault rifles, breaching shotguns, riot control agents, stun grenades, and sniper rifles. They have specialized equipment including heavy body armor, ballistic shields, entry tools, armored vehicles, advanced night vision optics, and motion detectors for covertly determining the positions of hostages or hostage takers, inside enclosed structures.

History

 Some sources state that the first use of "SWAT" as an acronym for "Special Weapons and Tactics" was the Special Weapons and Tactics Squad established by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1964. A more prominent early SWAT team was established in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1967, by Inspector Daryl Gates. After that, many United States law enforcement organizations, especially the police departments of major cities, as well as federal and state agencies, established their own elite units under various names. Gates explained in his autobiography Chief: My Life in the LAPD that he neither developed SWAT tactics nor the associated and often distinctive equipment; but that he supported the underlying concept, tried to empower his people to develop it, and generally lent them moral support. Gates originally named the platoon "Special Weapons Assault Team"; however, his name was not generally favored and was rejected by his manager, deputy police chief Ed Davis, as sounding too much like a military organization. Wanting to keep the acronym "SWAT", Gates changed its expanded form to "Special Weapons And Tactics".

While the public image of SWAT first became known through the LAPD, perhaps because of its proximity to the mass media and the size and professionalism of the Department itself, the first SWAT-type operations were conducted north of Los Angeles in the farming community of Delano, California on the border between Kern and Tulare Counties in the San Joaquin Valley. At the time, César Chavez' United Farm Workers union was staging numerous protests in Delano, both at cold storage facilities and outside non-supportive farm workers' homes on city streets. The Delano Police Department responded by forming ad-hoc units using special weapons and tactics. Television news stations and print media carried live and delayed reportage of these events across the United States. Personnel from the LAPD, having seen these broadcasts, contacted Delano and inquired about the program. One officer then obtained permission to observe the Delano Police Department's special weapons and tactics units in action and afterward took what he had learned back to Los Angeles where his knowledge was used and expanded on to form the LAPD's own first SWAT unit. John Nelson was the officer who conceived the idea to form a specially trained and equipped unit in the LAPD, intended to respond to and manage critical situations involving shootings while minimizing police casualties. Inspector Gates approved this idea, and he formed a small select group of volunteer officers. This first SWAT unit initially consisted of fifteen teams of four men each, making a total staff of sixty. These officers were given special status and benefits and were required to attend special monthly training sessions. The unit also served as a security unit for police facilities during civil unrest. The LAPD SWAT units were organized as "D Platoon" in the Metro division.

 

Members of the San Bernardino Police Department SWAT team on September 23, 1998.

 

Members of the U.S. Air Force 60th Security Forces Squadron SWAT team, Travis Air Force Base, California, practice hostage rescue on July 18, 1995.

The first significant deployment of LAPD's SWAT unit was on December 9, 1969, in a four-hour confrontation with members of the Black Panthers. The Panthers eventually surrendered, with three Panthers and three officers being injured. By 1974, there was a general acceptance of SWAT as a resource for the city and county of Los Angeles.

On the afternoon of May 17, 1974, elements of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a group of heavily-armed left-wing guerrillas, barricaded themselves in a residence on East 54th Street at Compton Avenue in Los Angeles. Coverage of the siege was broadcast to millions via television and radio and featured in the world press for days after. Negotiations were opened with the barricaded suspects on numerous occasions, both prior to and after the introduction of tear gas. Police units did not fire until the SLA had fired several volleys of semi-automatic and automatic gunfire at them. In spite of the 3,771 rounds fired by the SLA, no uninvolved citizens or police officers sustained injury from gunfire. However, all the gunmen inside were killed.

During the gun battle, a fire erupted inside the residence. The cause of the fire is officially unknown, although police sources speculated that an errant round ignited one of the suspects' Molotov cocktails. Others suspect that the repeated use of tear gas grenades, which function by burning chemicals at high temperatures, started the structure fire. All six of the suspects suffered multiple gunshot wounds or perished in the ensuing blaze.

 

U.S. Air Force 37th Training Wing's Emergency Services Team use a team lift technique to enter a target building during training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas on April 24, 2007.

By the time of the SLA shoot-out, SWAT teams had reorganized into six 10-man teams, each team consisting of two five-man units, called elements. An element consisted of an element leader, two assaulters, a scout, and a rear-guard. The normal complement of weapons was a sniper rifle (a .243-caliber bolt-action, based on the ordnance expended by officers at the shootout), two .223-caliber semi-automatic rifles, and two shotguns. SWAT officers also carried their service revolvers in shoulder holsters. Standard gear included a first aid kit, gloves, and a gas mask. At a time when officers were usually issued six-shot revolvers and shotguns, it was a significant change to have police armed with semi-automatic rifles. The encounter with the heavily-armed Symbionese Liberation Army, however, sparked a trend towards SWAT teams being issued body armor and automatic weapons of various types.

A report issued by the Los Angeles Police Department, following a shootout with the Symbionese Liberation A rmy in 1974, offers one of the few firsthand accounts by the department regarding SWAT history, operations, and organization. On page 100 of the report, the Department cites four trends which prompted the development of SWAT. These included riots such as the Watts Riots, which in the 1960s forced the LAPD and other police departments into tactical situations for which they were ill-prepared; the emergence of snipers as a challenge to civil order; political assassinations; and the threat of urban guerrilla warfare by militant groups. "The unpredictability of the sniper and his anticipation of normal police response increase the chances of death or injury to officers. To commit conventionally trained officers to a confrontation with a guerrilla-trained militant group would likely result in a high number of casualties among the officers and the escape of the guerrillas." To deal with these under conditions of urban violence, the LAPD formed SWAT, notes the report.The report states on page 109, "The purpose of SWAT is to provide protection, support, security, firepower, and rescue to police operations in high personal risk situations where specialized tactics are necessary to minimize casualties."

The Columbine High School massacre in Colorado on April 20, 1999, was another seminal event in SWAT tactics and police response. As noted in an article in the Christian Science Monitor, "Instead of being taught to wait for the SWAT team to arrive, street officers are receiving the training and weaponry to take immediate action during incidents that clearly involve suspects' use of deadly force." The article further reported that street officers were increasingly being armed with rifles, and issued heavy body armor and ballistic helmets, items traditionally associated with SWAT units. The idea is to train and equip street officers to make a rapid response to so-called active-shooter situations. In these situations, it was no longer acceptable to simply set up a perimeter and wait for SWAT. As an example, in the policy and procedure manual of the Minneapolis Police Department, it is stated, "MPD personnel shall remain cognizant of the fact that in many active shooter incidents, innocent lives are lost within the first few minutes of the incident. In some situations, this dictates the need to rapidly assess the situation and act quickly in order to save lives."

 

On February 7, 2008, a siege and subsequent firefight with a gunman in Winnetka, California led to the first line-of-duty death of a member of the LAPD's SWAT team in its 41 years of existence.

SWAT duties

SWAT duties may include:

Hostage rescue

Riot control

Perimeter security against snipers for visiting dignitaries

Providing superior assault firepower in certain situations e.g. barricaded suspects

Rescuing officers or citizens endangered by gunfire

Counter-terrorist operations

Resolving high-risk situations with a minimum loss of life, injury, or property damage

Resolving situations involving barricaded subjects

Stabilizing situations involving high-risk suicidal subjects

Providing assistance on arrest warrants and search warrants

Providing additional security at special events

Special Training

Organization

 

SWAT officers respond to the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.

The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively-trained and equipped officers cannot be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments, the officers are normally deployed to regular duties but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, mobile phones or radio transceivers. Even in the larger police agencies, such as the Los Angeles PD, SWAT personnel would normally be seen in crime suppression roles—specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, perhaps, but the officers would not be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons.

Although due to Officers having to be on call-out most of the day, they may be assigned to regular patrol. To decrease response times to serious situations that need the direct attention of SWAT Officers, it is now a widely used method to place SWAT equipment and weaponry in secured lockers in the trunks of specialized police cruisers. Such departments that need to use this are Sheriffs due to the size of the counties and places like Los Angeles traffic may be high so LAPD use cruisers to respond with their Officers so they do not have to return to the police building. Although for heavier duty equipment they may need depending on the situation that arises.

By illustration, the LAPD's website shows that in 2003, their SWAT units were activated 255 times, for 133 SWAT calls and 122 times to serve high-risk warrants.

The New York Police Department's Emergency Service Unit is one of the few civilian police special-response units that operate autonomously 24 hours a day. However, this unit also provides a wide range of services, including search and rescue functions, and vehicle extraction, normally handled by fire departments or other agencies.

The need to summon widely-dispersed personnel, then equip and brief them, makes for a long lag between the initial emergency and actual SWAT deployment on the ground. The problems of delayed police response at the 1999 Columbine High School shooting has led to changes in police response, mainly rapid deployment of line officers to deal with an active shooter, rather than setting up a perimeter and waiting for SWAT to arrive.

Training

 

SW AT officers are selected from volunteers within their law enforcement organization. Depending on their department's policy, officers generally must serve a minimum tenure within the department before being able to apply for a specialist section such as SWAT. This tenure requirement is based on the fact that SWAT officers are still law enforcement officers and must have a thorough knowledge of department policies and procedures.

SWAT applicants undergo rigorous selection and training. Applicants must pass stringent physical agility, written, oral, and psychological testing to ensure they are not only fit enough but also psychologically suited for tactical operations.

Emphasis is placed on physical fitness so an officer will be able to withstand the rigors of tactical operations. After an officer has been selected, the potential member must undertake and pass numerous specialist courses that will make him a fully qualified SWAT operator. Officers are trained in marksmanship for the development of accurate shooting skills. Other training that could be given to potential members includes training in explosives, sniper-training, defensive tactics, first-aid, negotiation, handling K9 units, rappelling and roping techniques and the use of specialized weapons and equipment. They may also be trained specifically in the handling and use of special ammunition such as bean bags, flash-bang grenades, tasers, and the use of crowd control methods, and special non-lethal munitions. Of primary importance is close-quarters defensive tactics training, as this will be the primary mission upon becoming a full-time SWAT officer.

SWAT equipment

SWAT teams use equipment designed for a variety of specialist situations including close quarters combat (CQC) in an urban environment. The particular pieces of equipment vary from unit to unit, but there are some consistent trends in what they wear and use.

Weapons

While a wide variety of weapons are used by SWAT teams, the most common weapons include submachine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles.

Tactical aids include K9 Units, as well as a flashbang, stinger, and tear gas grenades.

Semi-automatic pistols are the most popular sidearms. Examples may include, but are not limited to: M1911 pistol series, Sig Sauer series (especially the Sig P226 and Sig P229), Beretta 92 series, Glock pistols, H&K USP series, and 5.7x28mm FN Five-seveN pistol.

Common submachine guns used by SWAT teams include the 9 mm and 10 mm Heckler & Koch MP5, Heckler & Koch UMP, and 5.7x28mm FN P90.

Common shotguns used by SWAT units include the Benelli M1, Benelli M4, Benelli M1014, Remington 870 and 1100, Mossberg 500 and 590.

Common carbines include the Colt CAR-15 and M4 and Heckler & Koch G36 and HK416. While affording SWAT teams increased penetration and accuracy at longer ranges, the compact size of these weapons is essential as SWAT units frequently operate in Close quarters combat (CQB) environments. The Colt M16A2  can be found used by marksmen or SWAT officers when a longer ranged weapon is needed.

Common sniper rifles used are the M14 rifle and the Remington 700P. Many different variants of bolt action rifles are used by SWAT, including limited use of .50 caliber sniper rifles for more intense situations.

To breach doors quickly, battering rams, shotguns with breaching rounds, or explosive charges can be used to break the lock or hinges, or even demolish the door frame itself. SWAT teams also use many non-lethal munitions and weapons. These include Tasers, pepper spray canisters, shotguns loaded with bean bag rounds, Pepperball guns, stinger grenades, flashbang grenades, and tear gas. Ballistic shields are used in close quarters situations to provide cover for SWAT team members and reflect gunfire. Pepperball guns are essentially paintball markers loaded with balls containing Oleoresin Capsicum ("pepper spray").

Vehicles

 

Lenco BearCat owned by the Lee County Sheriff's Office (Florida) SWAT team

 

SWAT units may also employ ARVs, (Armored Rescue Vehicle) for insertion, maneuvering, or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians/officers pinned down by gunfire. Helicopters may be used to provide aerial reconnaissance or even insertion via rappelling or fast-roping. To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments, SWAT units may also use modified buses, vans, trucks, or other seemingly normal vehicles. During the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, LAPD SWAT commandeered an armored cash-delivery truck, which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the raging battle scene.

Units such as the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Special Response Team (SRT) used a vehicle called a B.E.A.R., made by Lenco Engineering which is a very large armored vehicle with a ladder on top to make entry into the second and third floors of buildings. Numerous other agencies such as the LAPD, LASD, and NYPD use both the B.E.A.R. and the smaller Lenco BearCat variant. Anaheim Police Department has a customized B.E.A.R. fitted with a ladder for assaulting multi-story buildings. Many SWAT teams in the states and around the world, including the LAPD, fit their armored and non-armored vehicles with the Patriot3 Liberator and 'MARS' (Mobile Adjustable Ramp System) Elevated Tactics Systems for gaining entry to 2nd and 3rd story buildings, airplane assault, sniper positioning, ship access, etc.

The Tulsa Police Department's SOT (Special Operations Team) uses an Alvis Saracen, a British-built armored personnel carrier. The Saracen was modified to accommodate the needs of the SOT. A Night Sun was mounted on top and a ram was mounted to the front. The Saracen has been used from warrant service to emergency response. It has enabled team members to move from one point to another safely.

The police departments of Killeen and Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C. use the Cadillac Gage Ranger, as does the Florida Highway Patrol.

Criticism

The use of SWAT teams in non-emergency situations has been criticized. Radley Balko, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, authored Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.

Other studies include Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments by Diane Cecilia Weber from the same institute and Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units by Dr. Peter Kraska and his colleague Victor Kappeler, professors of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University, who surveyed police departments nationwide and found that their deployment of paramilitary units had grown tenfold since the early 1980s.

For our latest information on QRT-SWAT with information on Lombard and Carey Streets, click HERE 
For More Information On The History Of QRT / SWAT - click HERE

POLICE INFORMATION

Copies of: Your Baltimore Police Department Class Photo, Pictures of our Officers, Vehicles, Equipment, Newspaper Articles relating to our department and or officers, Old Departmental Newsletters, Lookouts, Wanted Posters, and or Brochures. Information on Deceased Officers and anything that may help Preserve the History and Proud Traditions of this agency. Please contact Retired Detective Kenny Driscoll.

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How to Dispose of Old Police Items

If you come into possession of Police items from an Estate or Death of a Police Officer Family Member and do not know how to properly dispose of these items please contact: Retired Detective Ken Driscoll - Please dispose of POLICE Items: Badges, Guns, Uniforms, Documents, PROPERLY so they won’t be used IMPROPERLY. 

Please contact Det. Ret. Kenny Driscoll if you have any pictures of you or your family members and wish them remembered here on this tribute site to Honor the fine men and women who have served with Honor and Distinction at the Baltimore Police Department.

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Copyright © 2002 Baltimore City Police History - Ret Det Kenny Driscoll

Baltimore Police Patrol

The First Vehicles in The Baltimore Police Department for use in patrol came along beginning in 1909 based on a newspaper article dated 1911 which gave us the following count; Auto Patrol vehicles have been added to the department subsequently as follows: The first vehicle ever came in May 1909, the second in May 1910, the third in June 1910, followed by the fourth in Aug 1910, fifth In July 1911, the sixth, seventh, and eighth all came in November 1911. In addition to these first eight auto patrol units there was a vehicle known as “Black Maria”, a truck, and a machine (auto) each for Marshal Farnan and Deputy Marshal Manning, making a total of 11 automobiles purchased for the entire department from 1909 to 1911.

1-MAN PATROL CAR OPPOSED

Apr 15, 1946

The Sun (1837-1989); Apr 15, 1946; pg.7

1- PATROL - CAR OPPOSED MAN

Atkinson Says Two Are Needed / For Each Machine
Police patrol cars in Baltimore, could not adequately serve I the public interest if operated by one man instead of two, Hamilton R. Atkinson, Commissioner of Police, declared yesterday.

Mr. Atkinson, who is asking for 212 additional patrolmen, had been questioned about relieving the need for extra police personnel by taking a man from each or the radio cars and using him elsewhere. Two men in each car usually are necessary to handle such emergencies as a fight, house-breaking or disturbance involving several persons, the commissioner explained.

Major Problem Cited
Moreover, if only one man were in the car, the machine often would have to be left unprotected, and a less continuous check could be kept on reports coming over the radio, he added. He said, also, that two-man operation facilitated the handling of school traffic, a major problem of the day shift or the department. Foot patrolmen are far from adequate to cover the school traffic, Mr. Atkinson declared, and patrol cars are called into use, as well as traffic officers on motorcycles. One patrolman in the car will take charge at one school, and the second man will move on to another traffic-congested areas nearby.

Child Fatality Low
"The child fatality record has been very low, and I intend to keep it that way." he asserted. The day shift has to devote approximately five and a half hours to taking care of school traffic, he added. "We have never used one man in radio cars. I have gone into the matter thoroughly with the inspector of the department and the captains or the district,” Mr. Atkinson said. "None of my predecessors thought it feasible, and neither do I. "Mr. Atkinson insisted on the need for more men to protect the city, particularly in outlying districts. He said there were about 231 men on each shift serving the entire city-wide area, 91 square miles.

The Baltimore Police Department uses "Districts", Sectors and Posts to form what is known as Patrol. Where many departments use "Precincts," our department uses Districts, Districts numbered 1, thru 9. Starting with Central District (#1) from there we go to Southeast District (#2), and then going counter clockwise around the cities districts to Eastern (#3), Northeast (#4), Northern (#5), Northwestern (#6), Western (#7), Southwestern (#8) and finally Southern (#9). Their phone numbers by the way also use the numbers 1 thru 9, CD being 396-2411, SE 396-2422, E 396-2433, NE 396-2444, N 396-2455, NW 396-2466, W 396-2477 SW 396-2488 and S 396-2499.

Reports also go by these numbers, all Central District reports start with the number 1 followed by a letter indicating the month 1 thru 12 Jan thru Dec, and then the number sequentially of the report so the first report would be 1A0001, and so on, making it easy to file and find reports based on District and Date of occurrence.

The following are links to the district pages on this site

 

1. Central - 1826 -  Central/Middle District History - 03-09-1826  Central District was first known as the Middle District and was first located at Holiday and Saratoga Streets, it was established on 03-09-1826, the building that housed Central was built in 1802 and was in use by the police until 1870. From there they moved to 202 N. Guilford Avenue, (North Street) that building was brand new built in 1870 and used until 1908. On March 4 1908 Central moved to Saratoga and St. Paul Streets, a renovated school house. That location was used until 09-12-1926 when they went to Fallsway and Fayette St. sharing the Headquarters building built in 1926 and used until 09-12-1977 when they moved to 500 E. Baltimore St. 

2. Southeast - 1858/59 - Southeastern District History - 1958/59 - The Southeastern District is the youngest of all of our districts, it was first built in 1958/59 at it's present location of 5710 Eastern Ave.

3. Eastern - 1826 - Eastern District History - 03-09-1826 - The Eastern District was first located at 1621 Bank Street a building that was built around 1822, and still stands to this day. It remained at the Bank Street location until the summer of 1959, when the station was moved to the old Northeastern station at Ashland and Chew St. (Durham) in the Summer of 1959 where they stayed until 1960. In December 1960 they moved to their current location at 1620 Edison Highway.

4. Northeast - 1874 - Northeasten District History - 1874 - The Northeastern District was first opened at Ashland and Chew Streets (Durham) in 1874 where it remained until 1958/9 when they moved to their present district at 1900 Argonne Drive.

5. Northern - 1900 - Northern District History -  1900 The Northern District was first opened at Keswick and 34th Street (Cedar & Second Streets) on 1 Feb 1900 at 8am ran by Capt. Gittings, Lieutenants Henry and Dempsey; Round Sergeants will be, Warden for Day Duty, and Moxley for Night Duty. At the time they began with 50 officers. It remained at the Keswick location until 2001 when it moved to it's current location at 2201 W Coldspring Lane.

6. Northwest - 1874 - Northwestern District History - 1874 - The Northwestern District was first opened at Pennsylvania Ave and Lambert Street in 1874 where it remained until 1958/9 when they moved to their present district on Reisterstown Rd. 

7. Western - 1826 - Western District History - The Western District was first located at Green St between Baltimore St, and Belvidere St. Used from 1826 until 1876 when they moved to their new location, Pine Street, (still stands to day and is used by the Maryland University Police) Baltimore Police used it from 1876 until 1958/9 when they built their new station house at 1034 N Mount St, which is the current site on the Western District. 

8. Southwest - 1884 - Southwestern District History - 17 July 1884  The Southwestern District was first opened at Calhoun and Pratt Streets (200 S Calhoun St) where it remained until 11 July 1958 when they moved to their present location at 424 Font Hill Ave.

9. Southern - 1845 - Southern District History - The Southern District was first located at Montgomery and Sharp Streets, where it sat from 1845 until 1896 when they moved to Ostend Street. Ostend Street and Patapsco Street, remained in use from 1896 until 1985/86, when it moved to 10 Cherry Hill Road where it remains in use to present.

Patrol Vehicles had an Interesting History of Their Own

17 Nov 1968

Police Limit Car Sirens

The Sun (1837-1987); Nov 17, 1968;pg. 17

Police Limit 

Car Sirens

Action Taken To Eliminate - False Sense Of Security

The city's Police Department is putting sirens on fewer and fewer of its cars. The number of cars bearing sirens is being reduced in an effort to eliminate a false sense of security which they tend to give patrolmen who are racing to answer a call, William R. Morrissey, the department's public relations man, said yesterday.

Mr. Morrissey acknowledged that "there is no solid, professional thinking ... as to whether police vehicles should or should not be equipped with sirens" but he pointed to experiences several years ago when all cruisers had sirens and the accident rate among police cars was so high that use of sirens was curtailed.

Report Asked

Currently, Mr. Morrissey said, sirens are installed on several cars in each of the nine police districts, some cars used by detectives, traffic patrol cars and some specialized vehicles. The lack of sirens on police cars has prompted city Councilman Emerson R. Julian D., 4th) to ask the department for a report on the use of sirens on police vehicles. If that information shows that sirens are needed, to help protect the public, Dr. Julian said, he will introduce a bill to require sirens on all police vehicles.

Mr. Morrissey pointed out that in some emergency situations, use of a siren could alert a criminal that the police are coming. And, he said, the driver or an emergency vehicle is still required to drive "with due regard for the safety of all persons using a public street." Even if he has both his siren and his flashing light in operation.

Dr. Julian said that he became interested in the siren question after several near-collisions with police cars and a minor collision involving a patrol car on an emergency call and a car in which he was a passenger.

 

1931 Radio-car Gets its Start

 

Click Here for more Information

Police Department driving failed to improve in 71 – 72

21 February 1972

The Baltimore city Police Department driving record showed little improvement last year over its performance in 1970 – department statistics show.

City policeman were involved in 922 traffic mishaps while on duty last year – only one less than the number of accidents in 1970.

The department’s problem is not new. Donald D Pomerleau the police Commissioner, angered by the high accident rate two years ago – then nearly double the nation average – said in a departmental publication that the driving record was nothing short of “horrendous.”

For every million miles of driving by policeman last year, there were 55.35 accidents, according to departmental statistics.

Of the 922 mishaps last year, policeman were found at fault in 400 – including 315 accidents the department felt were “preventable.”

Disciplinary measures were taken again 334 policemen involved in accidents last year depriving the men of the total of 709 leave days

the department in the past was resorted to placing poor drivers on permit for patrol, suspending their police driving licenses and giving them oral reprimands.

A requirement that policeman contribute part of the cost of repairs to mangle patrol cars was eliminated several years ago when the city assumed care of the fleet.

Particularly alarming to the department is the number of policeman injured in traffic accidents. The 146 injured policeman were on medical leave for over 1500 days because of the mishaps.

In 1970, a driver – research firm spent several months studying the driving characteristics of city policeman, but failed to find and the explanation for the high rate of accidents.

Policeman as a group are somehow “unique” and that they “do not match any known driving population on record,” a spokesman for the firm reported.

Removed Sirens

a few years back, the department remove the sirens from most patrol cars in an attempt to reduce accidents. A department spokesman said the sirens were “distracting” and made the drivers reckless and overconfident.

The sirens were believed partially responsible for the police men crashing into each other’s patrol cars while answering the same calls.

But department records show most accidents – more than 430 last year – occurred while policeman were on routine patrol. A majority also occurred during peak traffic hours in the morning and evening.

Ran Into Pedestrians

Department taxes last year included 30 in which policeman ran into pedestrians and nearly 200 and which police vehicles were struck by civilian cars.

Other’s happened in police parking lots and garages.

Lieut. Col. William Harris, chief of the traffic division, has proposed a defensive driving program that would be required for policeman involved in accidents.

The program would include movies of other traffic accidents – film similar to those used by the motor vehicle administration and its driver rehab program. State Agency Faults

 

City for Lack of Police Sirens

Jun 29, 1972

The Sun (1837-1987); Jun 29, 1972;

pg. D24 State Agency Faults City for Lack of Police Sirens

The city Police Department is violating state law by not equipping two thirds of its vehicles with sirens, whistles or bells, a motor vehicle administration official said yesterday

William T. S. Bricker, deputy administrator for the agency. Said Donald Pomerleau the police Commissioner, was “clearly wrong” to ordered audible signal devices removed from most departmental vehicles several years ago.

It was done because Mr. Pomerleau “didn’t want to let the bank robbers know the police were coming.” Said Mr. Bricker. Formerly an assistant state’s attorney general and an assistant state attorney.

But the consequence is that ordinary citizens receive inadequate warning of approaching police cars. Mr. Bricker added.

The motor vehicle administration has no plans, however, to make the Police Department comply with the law. Spokesman said they wanted to avoid a “hassle” with the police.

The police spokesman said the department was aware of what the law calls for, but has made a “judgment not to equip more cars with sirens at this time.”

300 of 900 department vehicles have sirens, said Dennis S Hill, the police departments public information director. And the 300 can handle the volume of emergency calls, he said.

“There is no question in my mind that the Baltimore city Police Department is in violation of the motor vehicle code,” contended Mr. Bricker.

In the event of a collision involving a police vehicle not equipped with a warning device, “the city is liable,” he said.

A section of the vehicle code covering the “rights and liability” of drivers says that emergency vehicles are not entitled to automatic right-of-way unless they are equipped with “audible warning” devices.

The law on this point is “overwhelming,” Mr. Bricker proclaimed.

Another section of the code says that drivers of emergency vehicles may disregard “traffic signals and speed limits” only if their vehicles are equipped with sirens.

Police officials said that they removed audible warning devices for most of their vehicles to reduce department accidents. Sirens allegedly were “distracting” and may drivers reckless and overconfident. In some instances, police cars with blaring sirens were said to have collided with each other.

But department records show that most police accidents more than 430 last year – occur while policeman are one routine patrol – not on emergency runs. Also, there were 922 traffic mishaps involving policeman last year, only one less than the number of accidents in 1970.

City police cars and trucks were involved in 168 accidents during the first quarter of 1972. In only five other cities – of 54 surveyed recently by the national safety Council – the police cars and trucks have higher accident rates during the four-month period.

During the same time span, the Baltimore department ranked the fourth highest among 21 city police departments survived by the safety Council for frequency of accidents among two wheeled police motorcycles. But for three wheelers, the local department had no accident – ranking it first among 13 city department surveyed during the quarter, the safety Council reported.

 

Brian Kuebler wrote BALTIMORE - Citing efficiency and safety, the Baltimore Police Department is making yet another visible change in its patrol division by eventually decreasing the use of prisoner transport vans. This information comes as a surprise to many of the members of Baltimore’s Patrol division, as they fear the safety issues are not at the root of this change. Having worked patrol myself, I happen to know if ever there was a concern for officer safety it is not while the prisoner is in a wagon behind, or in front of an officer's vehicle, so much as it is with the prisoner in the vehicle a little less than 2ft behind the officer. There are instances of prisoners vomiting, urinating, and or defecating on themselves in the vehicle, or having concealed weapons that could be used to stab, or shoot the officer from behind. So this could be, and most likely is more than an officer safety issue, and is most likely an issue of budget. Either way, safety or budget, it is not about, nor will it affect (in a positive light) officer morale. He went to say The cage equipped vans, or wagons as they are commonly referred, are used to transport suspects from the scene of a crime or an arrest. Often Baltimore Police would process and handcuff suspects before calling and waiting on a transport vehicle. They are more commonly known as “paddy wagons” by the public, a derogatory term aimed at the Irish dating back to the 1800s in New York. While there is some truth to this, in that is was aimed at the police most of whom were Irish, and from the time period of the 1800's, but the location is off, it was Boston, not New York, and at the time we pretty much all used "Horse Drawn Wagons", hence the term "Wagon" of course the police at the times were mostly Irish, so yes, it was a "Paddy Wagon". When I was on in the late 80's to early 2000, we still called it a "Wagon", we used a box truck type wagon, muck like an ambo, and we called it Wagon, short for "Paddy Wagon" also as an Irishman, I don't think it is derogatory, in fact as a retired Officer, of Irish decent, I am proud to have come from a background of Strong Irish Law enforcement officers, known for fighting crime. The article continued with - But that is not why modern day Baltimore Police are doing away with their frequent use. In Brian's investigation into this story he learned from Lt. Eric Kowolczyk the patrol cars, will all become PTV's (Prisoner Transport Vehicles) something we used to call "Cage Cars" talk about derogatory, it was called this because the first cage cars, were made up simply by putting a thin cage between the officer's and their prisoners. Often spit would fly between the cage, and toward the officers, so the cage was replaced with Plexiglas to prevent anything, spit, blood or other bodily fluids from being thrown at, or on the police. So when Lt. Kowolczyk said, “In our new vehicles we have made a number of changes and upgrades regarding equipment and tools that will assist our officers in the crime fight. One of those changes will be partitions in the vehicles.  These partitions will assist in ensuring the safety of those involved in the arrest, as well in expediting the event itself. They will still allow for complete mobility within the vehicle,”  We learn this is more about economics than safety, this is nothing new, it is more of the same old "Cage Car" prisoner transport of the late 80's early 90's - Which is confirmed with the final line  - Prisoner transport instead will be done more with individual patrol cars.

Foot Patrol

Sep 30, 1981

Catherine D Gunther
The Sun (1837-1989); Sep 30, 1981; pg. D1

Except for their name, Stephen W. Quinter, 37, and even F. McNutt, 25, don’t seem to have much in common. The older man – an East Baltimore native – is broad and dark; the younger, who comes from Central California, is slim and blonde.

Yet if you saw them on the street, you might think them indistinguishable. For as Baltimore city police officers, they are too many only a collection of things: a gun, a nightstick, a bad and a radio.

Officers Quinter and McNutt, who work overtime on the recently instituted patrol squad, are aware of that, and they say it’s an ordinance thing to remember. As officer Quinter put it: “you know that sometimes, when people give you a hard time, it’s the uniform, not you, that they are mad at.”

Police Commissioner Frank J Battaglia recent decision to beef up foot patrols 50 to 60 more officers has been greeted favorably by those living and working in a 25 areas targeted for extra help, according to police spokesman Dennis S. Hill.

Though it is too early to tell whether the patrols will affect street crime, Mr. Hill said, “what we’re seeing, we like.”

If officers Quinter and McNutt are any indication, the foot patrol themselves seem to believe in the effectiveness of their work – work that so depends on visibility and the symbol will of the uniform.

Says officer McNutt: “the idea is to at least darken the possibility of crime. If they do criminals see you at every corner, they might think twice.”

This is a story about the foot patrols, about two men behind the uniform

The 23-year-old man sways gently in his own a Mac phrase outside the alley that bisects the company department store on Howard Street. He and his older friend have been trying to get a net in for at least 15; they haven’t been successful, and a younger drinker is not pleased.

“Hey officer, what you like a real criminals;” he demands.

His friend nervously tells of the Haas. “The man ask you for some ID,” he

“I had no criminal; only thing you’ll catch me doing his drinking,” the other continues, “let the man who shot that guy in the head for nothing,” he adds, handing over a driver’s license. “Why don’t you mess with people like that, those punks I read about in the news American?”

Officer McNutt says nothing, just copy the information from the licenses onto a small index card. Older drinker tries to reason with his friend.

“Demands giving you a chance, be cool,” he bags.

Also McKnight looks up. “The best thing for you to do is go home,” he says. “I know it’s early” – is 7:30 PM – “but I caught you in my alley once, and I don’t want to catch you again.”

The older drinker nods vigorously, grabs his friend by the arm and hurries up the street toward North and Howard. Officer McNutt looks the index card in his breast pocket.

Being in Baltimore and being a police officer are almost one in the same for officer McNutt: a two-year veteran of the force, he joined six months after he and his wife moved here from the West.

An Army veteran and a father of an 11 week old son, also McNutt says he isn’t really sure why he joined the city police force. He does say he’s happy with the job, having so for work several radio car and foot patrol beats downtown.

Also McNutt’s post tonight runs straight up W. Fayette St. from the Hilton Hotel to the town theater and includes assorted alleys and byways in between. The patrolman says robbery, all kinds, is the big crime in the area.

But during rush hour, around 6 PM it seems that people are more likely to get killed in a traffic accident that a hold up.

Pedestrians cross the intersection or halfway down the block; with the light or against. Motorist, too, and gold’s in numerous creative maneuvers, and officer McNutt makes a point of letting the drivers know that he sees what’s going on. Often, a hand signal is enough.

The rush-hour action isn’t confined to traffic; also McNutt keeps an eye on the bus stop crowd outside the turf bar and lounge in the 2000 block of W. Fayette St.

“About a year, year and a half ago, we got a call on most every night about something going on there,” he says with a gesture toward the bar. “Now we haven’t been up there in a while.”

The Lodge door swings open for a second, and the sidewalk crowd is treated to a few verses of Smokey Robinson’s “being with you,” late on a Friday afternoon the brightly lit bar is packed with customers.

Officer McNutt, who says he lives on Baltimore’s ‘south side’, won’t say straight out what he thinks of charm city.

“I’m basically a country boy… In a town half the size of Pikesville,” he explains.

Swinging south on Howard Street, he passes “Tony Dante’s the place for ribs” he catches the eye of the toddler sitting on the steps in front of the restaurant, and smiles at her, she gasps, wheels “police” then, she smiles back, and waves.

Also McKnight stops at the Trailways station and heads downstairs to the restroom. He walks the length of the hallway to the door marked “beauty salon.” It leads to a narrow, damn, smelly core door with many doors.

There’s a sinister quiet, the place is so remote, and it seems dangerous. “It’s called crime prevention,” also McNutt says with a smile. He checks the boiler room and heads up another flight of stairs. “I really don’t know where I’m going here,” he says with a laugh, then more soberly; “you try to find the cubbyhole the Crooks use when they try to give you the slip you know where to find them.”

The next stop, house restaurant on Eutaw Street. Also McNutt motions to the bartender. “Just checking in to see if everything’s okay,” he says. I don’t know, I feel kind of strange,” the barkeep replies with a smile

“Well,” also McNutt shoots back, “you’re in the right neighborhood.”

It’s a soft fall night with the promise of rain and early dust, signaling the end of summer. Officer of Quinter is strolling through the northern branch of the four Mount Vernon Parks that encircled the Washington Monument, talking about winos.

“I’d rather they just for it out,” he says. “If I have to arrest them, it takes too much time away from the patrol.” Officer Quinter turns left, heading into the park across from the Peabody Conservatory of music. Two men on a bench sheer drink for paper bag while two other snooze.

The drinkers look up and see the uniform. Almost no words are spoken; the booze Goebbels gently out onto the pavement and they move on. Officer Quinter awakens the Sweepers, London’s to their feet and swiftly.

Officer Quinter South, to another park. He walks slowly and have the, his weight on the cooking almost, but watching and listening. But the Mount Vernon post is my night.

A 13 year veteran of the horse and the father of two teenagers, Officer Quinter became a policeman for a specific reason.

“I like outside work” he said. “And when you’re on the streets, you’re your own boss.

“Inside jobs I don’t like. Same place same people, day in, day out… Rush to get the work, rush to get home, Friday go to the bank cashed the check Saturday mode of dress, Sunday go for a ride and get back in time city adult ones “60 Minutes”

“The kids watch Walt Disney,” he adds with a laugh.

So in 1965, after a short stint as a stock clerk in a department store, Officer Quinter joined the Army. He got into a pretty fair line of work for someone who hates routine and loves the outdoors; jumping out of airplanes.

After serving three years in West Germany, Officer Quinter returned to Baltimore and signed up with the city police.

It was a wild time to be a policeman; officer quarter started in the late spring of 1968, shortly after the riots that followed the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

From the beginning, he patrolled the downtown area. In the late 1960s, this meant covering peace demonstrations in war Memorial Plaza, assisting the detailed and guarded George C. Wallace at the Holiday Inn, and watching the street and flower power people who flourish in the downtown Parks and classes.

Everybody was working 12 hours shifts; all hell was going on,” he says of that time.

He pauses then as: “I guess I just looked out [the station of your while in the Army]... I knew people who got killed over there [in Vietnam].”

Officer Quinter’s new assignment two years later was a continued reflection of the time; he was placed in a spectacular narcotics unit, working out of the uniform and specialized in marijuana and LSD busts.

The Mount Vernon then was a hippie haven, and hallucinogens were the drug of choice. Officer Quinter points with a nightstick to grouper row houses and 800 block of N. Charles St., “I remember reading a couple of these places up here,” he says. “I never had any trouble making arrests.” He adds.

It was more difficult on lower Pennsylvania Avenue – another area then in Officer Quinter’s purview – where hair when was King. “They [the dealers] knew what day you are off, what hours you worked... I used to keep up a little with the nicknames, I had a notebook with all the nicknames next to their real name and addresses.”

He laughs and recalls a few handles; “Huckabuck, mojo – they used to call me Mr. Quint.”

After two years of requests, and got, a reassignment as a foot patrol officer, working in downtowns Charles center complex. He says he’s been happy there ever since, have finally found an outdoor job it’s different every day of the week.

“Some people say they would never be a policeman, because the work is too dangerous,” Officer Quinter says. He pauses at the corner of North Charles and center streets, where two cabbies have stopped for coffee at the white tower, and shrugs. “I would be a cab driver, a bus driver, or anything. More citizens get killed out there than police.”

It’s getting close to 11 PM quitting time. Nearby young man swerves down the sidewalk, announcing that the kingdom of God is at hand. The patrolman’s miles in sighs.

“Once, I stopped the woman right near that drugstore there” – MacGilivray’s at read and Charles – “because I got a vagrancy complaint.

“I said, “Are you begging for money?” And she said. “Not today.”

Officer Quinter laughs and adds; “other officers see all these crazies; they say I attract them.

“But I think they’re interesting people; I don’t mind, sometimes, you just have to know the language.”

And with another laugh and a wink, Officer Quinter strolls off into the night, radioing for a patrol car to take it back to the station.

NOTE.. We recently [28 July 2020] received an article written by a local Baltimore writer by the name of Bill Hughes about Baltimore's Footmen and they're having become a dying breed in our communities. To read the article click on the following link -  A Lost Tradition in Baltimore - A Cop Walking His Beat

Each of our Districts have a rich history in the number of sacrifices made by our police for the citizens of Baltimore. Throughout this site you will find some amazing stories of the men and women that have served this city. If you know anyone that has, you should thank them for their service. Anyone with information, photographs, memorabilia, or other "Baltimore City Police" items can contact Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. follow us on Twitter @BaltoPoliceHist or like us on Facebook by clicking HERE pics can be mailed to Baltimore City Police History - 8138 Dundalk Ave. Baltimore Md. 21222

 

 

POLICE INFORMATION

Copies of: Your Baltimore Police Department Class Photo, Pictures of our Officers, Vehicles, Equipment, Newspaper Articles relating to our department and or officers, Old Departmental Newsletters, Lookouts, Wanted Posters, and or Brochures. Information on Deceased Officers and anything that may help Preserve the History and Proud Traditions of this agency. Please contact Retired Detective Kenny Driscoll. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

NOTICE

How to Dispose of Old Police Items

If you come into possession of Police items from an Estate or Death of a Police Officer Family Member and do not know how to properly dispose of these items please contact: Retired Detective Ken Driscoll - Please dispose of POLICE Items: Badges, Guns, Uniforms, Documents, PROPERLY so they won’t be used IMPROPERLY.

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Please contact Det. Ret. Kenny Driscoll if you have any pictures of you or your family members and wish them remembered here on this tribute site to Honor the fine men and women who have served with Honor and Distinction at the Baltimore Police Department.

Anyone with information, photographs, memorabilia, or other "Baltimore City Police" items can contact Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. follow us on Twitter @BaltoPoliceHist or like us on Facebook or mail pics to 8138 Dundalk Ave. Baltimore Md. 21222

 

Copyright © 2002 Baltimore City Police History - Ret Det Kenny Driscoll 

Sergeant James Robert Moog

28 February 1931

Sergeant Moog, City’s Oldest Officers, Dies

On Active Duty Until 10 Days Ago, He Was Policeman Nearly 50 Years

Sergeant James Robert Moog, the senior of all men in the Baltimore Police Department, a Morgan Cavalryman [**] during the Civil War, and founder of Baltimore Police Department's Mounted Police Unit circa 1888 died in Mercy Hospital late last night [27 February 1931] following an operation for appendicitis. In rare cases, a blunt trauma of the abdomen (BTA) can be a direct cause of appendicitis. Seeing as how this happened more than 85 years ago it would be hard to tell if this due to some kind of trauma at the stables, or from illness, all we know is it occurred while working and on a streetcar he began to suffer from what he thought was an attack of bronchial asthma but was later found to be or brought on a case of an acute appendicitis.  

Note: Animals are a common trigger of asthma symptoms. One might be allergic to just one animal or more than one. Often, it's cats, dogs or horses. This means that even if the sergeant had a horse he was younger and did not react to it, he could be allergic to horses now. Sometimes, even if one has been around an animal for their entire life without developing allergies, it's possible to become allergic in their later years. There are also studies that show active asthma could be an unrecognized risk factor for appendicitis, it has been noted with children and the elderly. I don't know if this is a line of duty or not, but given the fact that he served 50 years, he fought in the civil war, and after losing a foot, that they took off while he was awake and watching. After having his foot removed, he got a prosthetic and continued to work. I think it would be great to continue to remember Sgt Moog, I mean what an inspiration to hear of the toughness and dedication of this kind of police.  

The asthma to appendicitis study can be found HERE

If he had lived until April 11th of 1931 he would have completed 50 years in the police department, one of the very few men at the time to have accomplished that.  Detective Lieutenant Thomas F.  Login, died a year earlier, was one such a man.  Sergeant Moog was 86 years old when he died.

Became Ill on a Streetcar

He was on active duty until 10 days prior to his death and was in charge of the stables for the Mounted Division on South Frederick Street.  On the day he was stricken by an attack of bronchial asthma he was on a streetcar, he was taken from the streetcar on Eutaw Street and Druid Hill Avenue by an ambulance from the No. 7 Engine House to the hospital.  There his asthma developed into an acute case of appendicitis.

A widower, Sergeant Moog lived with his daughter, Miss Catherine Moog, head of the department of English of the Eastern High School, at 3807 Bonner road

Funeral on Monday

The funeral services took place from his home that following Monday afternoon.  His son was a member of the faculty of a Boston School of Music.  He also had a second daughter, Mrs. Augustine Patterson, that also lived in Bolton.

Sergeant Moog’s service with the department began in early 1886 where he was assigned to work the Northwest District.  He spent the greater part of half a century on horseback as a member of the Mounted Division patrolling it outlying sections, chiefly in the Northwest District.  A love of horses was a marked characteristic of him throughout his life.

Always Wore Uniform

He always wore his uniform, with a yellow marking of the Cavalry Division. (In early BPD history, uniformed officers wore their uniforms both on and off duty) For years he led the police platoon which rode at the head of processions, from those to honor visiting celebrities to the military processions which marked the participation of this country in the world war and the return of the troops from France.

A real trooper, he knew the nature of the horse, he was at ease in the saddle no matter how great the blaring of the band’s behind him or nervousness of his mount.

Foot Is Amputated

At the battle of Gettysburg, a bullet struck him in the foot.  Two years ago, (1929) after the passing of 60 some odd years, an infection developed in that foot and he was taken to Union Memorial Hospital.  There it was found to be necessary to have the foot amputated.

A survivor of the civil war, when anesthesia was not as common as they were in 1931, the Sergeant told the surgeons that he did not need an anesthetic, and to go ahead and take his foot off; in fact, he wanted to see it, anyway.  He was given a local anesthetic and the operation performed.

Since that time, he had not ridden a horse but remained in charge of the stables.  He had an artificial foot made and his short, strong figure, of the Sergeant walking with a cane, continued to be seen about the police building as he appeared there to make his daily reports, but since he could no longer ride, he was forced to use streetcars to get around the city.

Possibly taken in 1912 during the democratic convention here in Baltimore
The rider second from the left appears to me Sgt James Moog

Morgan Cavalryman Refers to John Hunt Morgan

1 Jun 1825 - 4 Sep 1864

John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825 – September 4, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a costly raid in Kentucky, which encouraged Braxton Bragg's invasion of that state. He also attacked the supply-lines of General William Rosecrans. In July 1863, he set out on a 1,000-mile raid into Indiana and Ohio, taking hundreds of prisoners. But after most of his men had been intercepted by Union gunboats, Morgan surrendered at Salineville, Ohio, the northernmost point ever reached by uniformed Confederates. The legendary "Morgan's Raid", which had been carried out against orders, gained no tactical advantage for the Confederacy, while the loss of his regiment proved a serious setback. Morgan escaped from his Union prison but his credibility was low, and he was restricted to minor operations. He was killed at Greeneville, Tennessee, in September 1864. Morgan was the brother-in-law of Confederate general A. P. Hill.

Like most Kentuckians, Morgan did not initially support secession. Immediately after Lincoln's election in November 1860, he wrote to his brother, Thomas Hunt Morgan, then a student at Kenyon College in northern Ohio, "Our State will not I hope secede I have no doubt but Lincoln will make a good President, at least we ought to give him a fair trial & then if he commits some overt act all the South will be a unit." By the following spring, Tom Morgan (who also had opposed Kentucky's secession) had transferred home to the Kentucky Military Institute and there began to support the Confederacy. Just before the Fourth of July, by way of a steamer from Louisville, he quietly left for Camp Boone, just across the Tennessee border, to enlist in the Kentucky State Guard. John stayed at home in Lexington to tend to his troubled business and his ailing wife. Becky Morgan finally died on July 21, 1861.

In September, Captain Morgan and his militia company went to Tennessee and joined the Confederate States Army. Morgan soon raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment and became its colonel on April 4, 1862.

Morgan and his cavalrymen fought at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, and he soon became a symbol to secessionists in their hopes for obtaining Kentucky for the Confederacy. A Louisiana writer, Robert D. Patrick, compared Morgan to Francis Marion and wrote that "a few thousands of such men as his would regain us Kentucky and Tennessee."

In his first Kentucky raid, Morgan left Knoxville on July 4, 1862, with almost 900 men and in three weeks swept through Kentucky, deep in the rear of Major General Don Carlos Buell's army. He reported the capture of 1,200 Federal soldiers, whom he paroled, acquired several hundred horses, and destroyed massive quantities of supplies. He unnerved Kentucky's Union military government, and President Abraham Lincoln received so many frantic appeals for help that he complained that "they are having a stampede in Kentucky." Historian Kenneth W. Noe wrote that Morgan's feat "in many ways surpassed J. E. B. Stuart's celebrated 'Ride around McClellan' and the Army of the Potomac the previous spring." The success of Morgan's raid was one of the key reasons that the Confederate Heartland Offensive of Braxton Bragg and Edmund Kirby Smith was launched later that fall, assuming that tens of thousands of Kentuckians would enlist in the Confederate Army if they invaded the state.

As a colonel, he was presented with a Palmetto Armory pistol by the widow of Brigadier General Barnard Elliott Bee Jr. That pistol is now owned by the Museum of the American Civil War.

Morgan was promoted to brigadier general (his highest rank) on December 11, 1862, though the Promotion Orders were not signed by President Davis until December 14, 1862. He received the thanks of the Confederate Congress on May 1, 1863, for his raids on the supply lines of Union Major General William S. Rosecrans in December and January, most notably his victory at the Battle of Hartsville on December 7.

On December 14, 1862, Morgan married Martha "Mattie" Ready, the daughter of Tennessee United States Representative Charles Ready and a cousin of William T. Haskell, another former U.S. representative from Tennessee.

Morgan's Raid

Hoping to divert Union troops and resources in conjunction with the twin Confederate operations of Vicksburg and Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, Morgan set off on the campaign that would become known as "Morgan's Raid". Morgan crossed the Ohio River and raided across southern Indiana and Ohio. At Corydon, Indiana, the raiders met 450 local Home Guard in a battle that resulted in eleven Confederates killed and five Home Guard killed.

In July, at Versailles, IN, while soldiers raided nearby militia and looted county and city treasuries, the jewels of the local masonic lodge were stolen. When Morgan, a Freemason, learned of the theft he recovered the jewels and returned them to the lodge the following day.

After several more skirmishes, during which he captured and paroled thousands of Union soldiers[citation needed], Morgan's raid almost ended on July 19, 1863, at Buffington Island, Ohio, when approximately 700 of his men were captured while trying to cross the Ohio River into West Virginia. Intercepted by Union gunboats, less than 200 of his men succeeded in crossing. Most of Morgan's men captured that day spent the rest of the war in the infamous Camp Douglas Prisoner of War camp in Chicago, which had a very high death rate. On July 26, near Salineville, Ohio, Morgan and his exhausted, hungry and saddle-sore soldiers were finally forced to surrender. It was the farthest north that any uniformed Confederate troops would penetrate during the war.

On November 27, Morgan and six of his officers, most notably Thomas Hines, escaped from their cells in the Ohio Penitentiary by digging a tunnel from Hines' cell into the inner yard and then ascending a wall with a rope made from bunk coverlets and a bent poker iron. Morgan and three of his officers, shortly after midnight, boarded a train from the nearby Columbus train station and arrived in Cincinnati that morning. Morgan and Hines jumped from the train before reaching the depot and escaped into Kentucky by hiring a skiff to take them across the Ohio River. Through the assistance of sympathizers, they eventually made it to safety in the South. Coincidentally, the same day Morgan escaped, his wife gave birth to a daughter, who died shortly afterward before Morgan returned home.

Though Morgan's Raid was breathlessly followed by the Northern and Southern press and caused the Union leadership considerable concern, it is now regarded as little more than a showy but ultimately futile sidelight to the war. Furthermore, it was done in direct violation of his orders from General Braxton Bragg not to cross the river. Despite the raiders' best efforts, Union forces had amassed nearly 110,000 militia in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio; dozens of United States Navy gunboats along the Ohio River ; and strong Federal cavalry forces, which doomed the raid from the beginning. The cost of the raid to the Federals was extensive, with claims for compensation still being filed against the U.S. government well into the early 20th century. However, the Confederacy's loss of Morgan's light cavalry far outweighed the benefits.

Click to Open a Full Size Pic of This File

Click to Open a Full Size Pic of This File

Sergeant Jams R. Moog

Click on any of the following articles about Sergeant Moog

Exciting Runaway – 12 July 1895

"Finest" Really Fine? –  16 May 1905  

Policeman’s Pocket Picked – 30 July 1915

Old Mounted Policeman Sees Horse Still Useful – 10 April 1925

Department “Youngsters” Top Service Age Records –  2 Dec 1927

Band Honoring Police Vets – 29 June 1930

James R. Moog – 28 Feb 1931

Police Department’s Oldest Member Dies – 1 May 1931  

Police Horse Live In Shadow of the Block – 30 Aug 1962

Patrolwoman Mary S. Harvey

The first Women Officer was hired under the title of Policewomen was Mary S. Harvey, EOD of June 19, 1912, her hiring was followed by that of Margaret B. Eagleston July 22, 1912

The First Women Officers
Mary S. Harvey, and Margaret B. Eagleston

1912 - 19 June 1912 - The first Women Officer was hired under the title of Policewomen was
Mary S. Harvey, EOD of June 19, 1912 her hiring was followed by that of
Margaret B. Eagleston July 22, 1912
1912 - 4 April 1912 John B A Wheltle,  Peter E Tome,  and Morris A Soper 
1912- 6 May 1912 Morris A Soper,  Daniel C Ammidon, and Alfred S Niles 
1912 - Morris A. Soper, was one of our Baltimore City Police Commissioner from 1912-1913 
1912/13 - The Baltimore police goes from Horse Draw "Patty" Wagons to motorized wagons. Oddly enough our first motorized wagons were manufactured by the same builder. 
1913 - December 1913 - The Police Academy was established. - What later became known as our Police Academy, was first called “The Baltimore Police Department - School or Instruction” - It was house in the Northern District - From a 1934 newspaper article referencing this "School of Instruction", it talks about the effect on its young police, initially they wrote, "It's not long, this eight-week course that they put the newcomers through, upon the fifth floor of the Police Building at Fallsway and Fayette, but it is both thorough, and exacting. And since its founding fourteen years ago [an indication that it was moved from its initial location to the new headquarters in 1920] by Commissioner Gaither; the school has served as something of a guide, and model for virtually every big city in the country," Departmental officials said. 
1913 - 31 December 1913 James McEvoy, Daniel C Ammidon, and Alfred S Niles 
1913 - James McEvoy, was one of our Baltimore City Police Commissioner from 1913-1914 
1914 - 29 May 1914 - The Motor Unit was organized on May 29, 1914 - It began with just five members, Officers, Schleigh, Bateman, Pepersack, Vocke and Louis. 
1914 - 17 October 1914 - The first female officer shot in the line of duty was Policewoman Elizabeth Faber. As she and her partner, Patrolman George W. Popp were attempting to arrest a pick-pocket on the Edmondson Avenue Bridge they were both shot. (An interesting side note, The first woman police hired by the Baltimore Police department were hired two years earlier in June and July of 1912, and none of the women hired received firearms training until 1925) 
1925 - As an interesting side note on March 28, 1925 the Baltimore Sun reports - Two female members of department given first lesson in pistol shooting. They were Miss Margaret B. Eagleston and Mrs. Mary J. Bruff - A few days later Mrs. Mary Harvey, Miss Eva Aldridge and Ms. Mildred Campbell were also trained. So basically the first two woman officers hired by the BPD weren't trained in firearms until they had been on the force for 13 years!)  

Patrolwoman Margaret B. Eagleston

The first Women Officer was hired under the title of Policewomen was Mary S. Harvey, EOD of June 19, 1912, her hiring was followed by that of Margaret B. Eagleston July 22, 1912

The First Women Officers
Mary S. Harvey, and Margaret B. Eagleston

1912 - 19 June 1912 - The first Women Officer was hired under the title of Policewomen was
Mary S. Harvey, EOD of June 19, 1912 her hiring was followed by that of
Margaret B. Eagleston July 22, 1912
1912 - 4 April 1912 John B A Wheltle,  Peter E Tome,  and Morris A Soper 
1912- 6 May 1912 Morris A Soper,  Daniel C Ammidon, and Alfred S Niles 
1912 - Morris A. Soper, was one of our Baltimore City Police Commissioner from 1912-1913 
1912/13 - The Baltimore police goes from Horse Draw "Patty" Wagons to motorized wagons. Oddly enough our first motorized wagons were manufactured by the same builder. 
1913 - December 1913 - The Police Academy was established. - What later became known as our Police Academy, was first called “The Baltimore Police Department - School or Instruction” - It was house in the Northern District - From a 1934 newspaper article referencing this "School of Instruction", it talks about the effect on its young police, initially they wrote, "It's not long, this eight-week course that they put the newcomers through, upon the fifth floor of the Police Building at Fallsway and Fayette, but it is both thorough, and exacting. And since its founding fourteen years ago [an indication that it was moved from its initial location to the new headquarters in 1920] by Commissioner Gaither; the school has served as something of a guide, and model for virtually every big city in the country," Departmental officials said. 
1913 - 31 December 1913 James McEvoy, Daniel C Ammidon, and Alfred S Niles 
1913 - James McEvoy, was one of our Baltimore City Police Commissioner from 1913-1914 
1914 - 29 May 1914 - The Motor Unit was organized on May 29, 1914 - It began with just five members, Officers, Schleigh, Bateman, Pepersack, Vocke and Louis. 
1914 - 17 October 1914 - The first female officer shot in the line of duty was Policewoman Elizabeth Faber. As she and her partner, Patrolman George W. Popp were attempting to arrest a pick-pocket on the Edmondson Avenue Bridge they were both shot. (An interesting side note, The first woman police hired by the Baltimore Police department were hired two years earlier in June and July of 1912, and none of the women hired received firearms training until 1925) 
1925 - As an interesting side note on March 28, 1925 the Baltimore Sun reports - Two female members of department given first lesson in pistol shooting. They were Miss Margaret B. Eagleston and Mrs. Mary J. Bruff - A few days later Mrs. Mary Harvey, Miss Eva Aldridge and Ms. Mildred Campbell were also trained. So basically the first two woman officers hired by the BPD weren't trained in firearms until they had been on the force for 13 years!)  

POLICE INFORMATION

Copies of: Your Baltimore Police Department Class Photo, Pictures of our Officers, Vehicles, Equipment, Newspaper Articles relating to our department and or officers, Old Departmental Newsletters, Lookouts, Wanted Posters, and or Brochures. Information on Deceased Officers and anything that may help Preserve the History and Proud Traditions of this agency. Please contact Retired Detective Kenny Driscoll.

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Please contact Det. Ret. Kenny Driscoll if you have any pictures of you or your family members and wish them remembered here on this tribute site to Honor the fine men and women who have served with Honor and Distinction at the Baltimore Police Department.

Anyone with information, photographs, memorabilia, or other "Baltimore City Police" items can contact Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. follow us on Twitter @BaltoPoliceHist or like us on Facebook or mail pics to 8138 Dundalk Ave. Baltimore Md. 21222

Copyright © 2002 Baltimore City Police History - Ret Det Kenny Driscoll

Retired Detective Edward Chaney

We are hoping to help keep Ed's Police family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate any support in the form of donations or kind words, so Ed's family can have closure, and a better understanding about who ed was when he was not with them. Monetary donations should go straight to Cindy Chaney.

Those of us that know Ed, know he has spent a lifetime helping others. He taught adults and children how to defend themselves through the discipline of karate. 

He served his community as a police detective in Baltimore for twenty years helping victims get justice and safety from those that had at one time or another harmed them. And he’s helped so many friends and neighbors with whatever they needed. 

After retiring from the Baltimore Police department Ed and his wife Cindy laid out a plan to relocate to sunny Florida. Within months of relocating he was diagnosed with metastatic head and neck cancer that started as a HPV- tonsil cancer. 

The original diagnosis was explained as a horrendous treatment but with excellent odds at beating the disease. That was more than two years ago at the time of this writing. While they briefly thought he was cancer free, it re-emerged in the lymphatic system, liver & bones.  Ed was receiving a new research treatment trial at the Moffitt Center in Tampa. 

Ed and Cindy have tried to do this financially on their own, but could use help from their families and friends.  But this fight has been longer, harder and more expensive than any they had ever imagined. Ed passed away, but the bills didn't end. The Police pension system cut in half when he passed, so now Cindy is left with the bills and only half the income she was used to whit ed by her side. This site is not about raising funds, it is about remembering Ed, but while we think of him, we can't help but think of his wife and her need for our help. So if you can give, please do we'll add a link to a PayPal where you can donate directly to Cindy. If you have nothing to give, share a story send it to us via email and we;ll add it to this page. Also share this link, so others can share stories, give donations, or pass the link on to their friends. In the end if we can think of ed keep his memory alive, give a little to help Cindy, share your memories of ed, and again share this link so others may do the same.

I know many friends and family have asked them how they can help. 

Send Pictures and stories so we can add them to this page.

There are a lot of things within the Baltimore Police Department that make those of us that have served a a city patrolman quite proud. But, then, we find something like the following newspaper article, and we are completely embarrassed that our agency could have ever been like that. As embarrassed, as I can get, I find myself looking for signs that it is no longer the case, and that we have come a long way. I am thankful that in today's age we all work together, race wasn't an issue, when we got a call we went, when an officer was in need of help we went, no one ever asked the race of the officer needing help. We all ate together, played together, we had a brotherhood that made race something that was not an issue I spoke with some guys from back before black and white officers worked together, and then worked together, and they all describe it the same, and while it didn't start off good, it didn't take long for both men to realize the similarities

Mr. G. M. Porteous, the agent of the Bertillon system of measuring criminals, appeared before Baltimore’s Board of commissioners yesterday and said he would begin in a few days to put up the apparatus for the introduction of this system in the police department for this city [Baltimore]. The apparatus and the photo gallery for taking the portraits for the Rogues Gallery will be in the room now occupied by the city Commissioner, located on the northwest corner of City Hall, on the first floor. Mr. Harry Bruff, the newly appointed assistant secretary to the board, will be in charge of the apparatus.

Capt. Kelly, the director, is a 45-year-old veteran of 19 years in the department, and a graduate of the national police Academy conducted by the Federal Bureau of investigations in Washington - Capt. Kelly was in uniform for more than seven years, and then in 1939 went to the detective bureau. In 1943 he was assigned to the homicide division, and during 1949 – 1950 he headed this. Then last September he was appointed to take over at the Academy. He was promoted to his captaincy last January - He was also part of the Baltimore Police Band

The late Officer Paul Levinson of the Baltimore City Police, formerly of the Northern District Station who, as a historian and collector of Baltimore Police badges, was unequaled in the field; and as such, I credit him as a contributor to this project. That we owe the greatest debt of gratitude to quench, the thirst of knowledge, he Is missed by his brother officers in the role of the thin, blue line. Something else most don't know, if Paul pretty much wrote the book on Baltimore City Police Badge History, he contacted manufactures, talked about who owns the rights to the Baltimore Police badge, What various changes meant. He had similar findings when it comes to our Patch, pointing out things we should have seen but many of us didn't, thinks like, the meaning of the blue field on the background of the patch, the gold boarder, The shape of the Maryland Flag that is embedded into the design, it might be more obvious had we still been using the 4th issue badge, or when they changed badges in 1976, they would have also changed the badge on the patch, but they didn't so it may have to be pointed out to some, that the shape of our 4th issue badge is cut into the patch. He covered why we had the word CITY on the patch and where it went, or more important why... He also covered the Rocker patch, first issued in 1952, prior to the 1952 shoulder patch, we had no patch, but once we got the patch is was soley to be worn on the left sleeve of the coat, we didn't have a shirt patch, that said we learned from newspaper articles, that there were plans to have a second shoulder patch, it would have been white, with blue stitching. See our Patch history under the History drop down in the top menu.