POLICE CARS

When police automobiles are the topic, the first question that is often asked is, “When was the first police car? The short answer is; 1915.

MEETING OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, AUGUST 3RD, 1915:
AT FOUR O’CLOCK P. M.
A RESOLUTION.
Accepting bid of Ford Sales Company for four automobiles.
BE IT RESOLVED “BY THE CITY COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO:
That the bid of the Ford Sales Company to furnish the City of San Antonio with
three touring “cars “for use in the Police Department at Four Hundred Seventy-Four ($474.10)
Dollars and ten cents each, and one Roadster type automobile for use in the Fire Alarm
Department for Four Hundred Twenty-Four ($424.10) Dollars and ten cents, be and the same
is hereby accepted and the City Purchasing Agent is instructed to issue orders
for same for immediate delivery.
Ordinance MA-93 Pg. 51

However, 1915 is very late in the history of the automobile for this to be the first purchase for the police department. The city had purchased a vehicle for Phil Wright, Chief of the Fire Department in 1910. It is listed as:

A Locomobile – 65 Horsepower roadster, with two front seats. Body is royal blue, striping light coach red. Trimming material, leather, color black. Chassis color red. Equipped with Fisk bolted on. demountable, 40×6 rear, 40×5 front. Rushmore headlight, standard sidelight, Hartford tail lamp, best. Warner speedometer and clock. Rushmore searchlight. Hartford Truffault shock absorbers, hand siren, distinctive tone, tire brackets for extra tires. 35 Gallon Champion Babcock chemical tank with reel and 200 feet 3-4 inch Eureka brand chemical hose and nozzle. New departure 13 inch rotary gong, two axes, one crowbar, Babcock hand extinguishers, two Dietz Fire King lanterns, one Pres-to-lite tank in addition to generator, one set weed tire chains, one storm apron for front seat, all parts to be nickel plated.

That the Fire Chief could have his picture in the paper sitting in such a glorious machine that had recently been test driven, prior to acceptance, through the streets of the city at the astounding speed of 45 miles per hour and the Police Chief get…nothing, is not political reality, assuming the same police chief. Further research, it is suspected, will be fruitful.

What is of at least equal interest, however, is how automobiles were looked upon as tools of law enforcement. Initially they were so expensive to purchase and maintain in addition to being complex to operate that most departments simply chose not to have one or it they did, then only one, ostensibly for use as an “Emergency” vehicle but usually more employed in moving around the Chief of Police and those he wanted to impress. A chauffeur/mechanic was almost mandated. To provide some perspective; an advertisement for the Winton automobile in November of 1906 gave a price of $2,500 (approx. $65,000 today) while the city, only four months later in March of 1907, purchased seven horses for the mounted police for $1,975 (approx. $51,000 today). However, automobile technology advanced so rapidly, that by 1915, as can be seen, the price has dropped to $474.10 (approx. $11,500 today) Although the price really didn’t matter. By that time (1915), no police department in any major (or minor) city could afford not to have vehicles. Officers were literally being left in the dust by traffic violators, scofflaws and criminals.