POLICE MOTORCYCLES

When police automobiles are the topic, the first question that is often asked is, “When did the San Antonio Police Department get its first police car? The interest in motorcycles is, if anything, even more intense. As with automobiles the short answer is 15 July 1912 at 8:00 PM, the date and time the first motor officer went on duty. However, he had been hired with the condition that he provide his own motorcycle, so technically the City of San Antonio Police Force still did not have motorcycles and would not until the 30 th of August 1915 under ordinance MA-169, the city accepted the bid of the Guarantee Cycle Company of San Antonio for seven Indian Motorcycles with speedometers, electric lights and sidecars at $305.00 ($7,392.00 today) each.