![]() In those days most applicants for railroad police duty walked away when assignment to certain thief-invested yards was mentioned. Guns were tried out on him after his skull had been crushed with blackjacks. ![]() An old man, protecting a railroad silk shipment, was beaten to death by a gang of thieves and left lying on top of a box car. There was a theft of $35,000 in quicksilver which, rumor said, was conveyed by river pirates in a craft to a German submarine resting at a certain point in the New York harbor. Stolen freight was recovered in many western cities. At that time a ten-thousand-dollar robbery was a small matter, and it was nothing to see that amount of recovered cloth and silk piled up in one room. Barlow, Erie general freight claim adjuster, has figures showing that from January to July, 1918, robberies in one Erie railroad yard amounted to $250,000. We have not only brought the former record of losses down to a minimum, but are able to find time to assist in other phases of railroad work. Large thefts were then an almost daily occurrence, and to combat them additional men were taken on, many of them incompetent. Today we are doing more efficient work with four men. In one office, fifteen men were engaged in investigating car robberies. Today the former railroad car thief is apparently confining his attention to bootlegging, as more fascinating and profitable.Īt the termination of federal control of the railroads we probably had in the Erie police service on what is known as the New York Region nearly double the number of men we now have. Silks, clothing and the finer grades of metal, shipped by rail, were in demand in the underworld and ready receivers of stolen goods could always be found. In that time of rush and excitement the freight car operator (car thief) was especially active. During the World war, there was a great demand for labor, high wages in war industries were the rule, railroad yards and terminals were congested, and millions of men were going into the United States service, making the police problem more difficult to handle than it is now. In comparing the railroad Police departments of today with those in existence during the period of federal control of the railroads, a marked improvement will undoubtedly be observed. ![]() McGuill, Erie Chief of Police, Jersey City Ramsey (above) age 41 entered service of Erie as patrolman at Akron, O., appointed sergeant of police at Mansfield, O., June 1, 1920. Getting down to brass tacks, the individual records of the Erie officers whose photographs are given in this issue of the Magazine are:Ĭ.L. It is an extremely dangerous one nowadays when bandits have not the slightest regard for human life. "A policeman's lot is not a happy one," said W. ![]() He must not only be utterly fearless but must possess probity and sound and mature judgment, to circumvent criminals and safeguard the company's interests. In these days of bold depredations by thieves and crooks that do not hesitate to "shoot on sight," a railroad policeman has to be a man of nerve and daring. They are, indeed, typical of the other members of the Erie Police department, wherever stationed. In this number of the Magazine are shown pictures of a dozen members of the Erie Railroad Police department, six of whom serve in the New York Region, three in the Ohio Region and three in the Chicago Region.Ī fine-looking, clean-cut group of men that will compare favorably in appearance with a similar group of "the finest" anywhere. The Erie Railroad's Finest - Railroad Police, Fire and Safety Forcesįrom the November, 1926 issue of Erie Magazine:Įrie's Police Department is as Good as they Make 'Em Hankins, Somerville Special Agent Howard Sommerfeld, Houston Special Agent Jim Frankle and Silsbee Assistant Division Special Agent Jeff Ferguson. Houston Assistant Division Special Agent Jerry Western, Houston Special Agents Billy M. Houston Special Agents, Barret Hatches, R.A. Santa Fe Railroad Police during firearms training in Alvin, Texas, October 1980. ![]()
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