The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-11-12
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Policemen Grow Reminiscent Over
=. Preparations to Move to
New City Hall.
The First Headquarters" Were at
First Avenue and Second
Street South.

Old police officers-those who have been
on the force for nearly three decades, and
there are few such in Minneapolis-gre
reminiscent to-day when the men at
headquarters packed bag and baggage for
removal to the new city hall. They con-
trasted the old and the new and reflected
on the great change that has come over
Minneapolis since they donned the blue
as young men In the days of the city's in
fancy. ...
AS they gazed upon the magnificent
pile, which will henceforth house probably
the finest police headquarters in the
United States, their thoughts reverted not
only to the grim, gray building on Bridge
square, from which police affairs have
been administered for more than a quar-
ter Of a century, but also. to the dingy,
little coops from which the minions of the
law sailed forth before the town COM
menced to shake off it's frontier
No police records Immediately available
contain any clear accounts of the ear
lier beginnings Of the Minneapolis police
force. Old settlers NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. OF
whom should perhaps retain some distinct
Impressions of the first headquarters To-
cations-admit that their recollections OF
police matters have grown dim. This is
not to say that they have any particular
| reason for wishing to forget any such
chapter in the city's history but rather
| because they were law abiding citizens
VINO had little occasion to visit the city's
central prison.
First Police Headquarters.
In a vague way, it is remembered that
the first police headquarters in Minneapo-
| lis, and this has no reference to the car
! lier police department of St. Anthony
| now the East Side, was located in one.
story, stone building, which stood on tts
ha O.
Charles hotel, at Second street and FRS
| avenue S. This building was occupied il
| the late sixties and was abandoned abo,1
1870 when the growth Of the city forced
the police department to secure headuuar
tiers elsewhere. T.
Lac Stafford, who grew up in Mime
| apolis, calls to mind but one event extra,
ordinary which marked the history Of tn,
police department at its first headduar
| tiers. That was the suicide of a woman
prisoner Mr.. Stafford says that on,
Kent. Of forgotten memory, was the1
chief, but Captain w. w. Boswortl1, nov
| with the East Side station, having giver
his memory hard "tax," insists that thi.
individuals name was Selley and that HI
was chief under Mayor Dorilus Morrison
Mr.. Stafford recalls distinctly that thu
first move after the stone building wa
vacated was to a. "two-story frame build
| ing with a Gothic front" on the site of tn,
present Window block at Washington ant
| Second avenues 8.
| Murders at Central"
| "They didn't decoy men out to Prospec
Park to put them out of the way in thos,
days." said Mr.. Stafford. II remembe
the location of the second headquarter
building so we'll because two murders wer
committed either inside that structure o
| in the immediate vicinity. Men were
| ho wit fhoir oy1r ir,
and they didn't wait to get more suit
| able scenic environments when the spiri
| moved them. I think the chief OF polio
| at that time was man named Hanson.
Captain Jake" Helm, now at the Nortl
Side station, who was then young at tn
business, remembers the frame building
not because of any striking architecture
| features, but because it was then tn
only police station in the city.
| EVERY copper in Minneapolis, Eas
Side, West Side and South Side" sal
Captain Helm. then reported for duty q
the central station. The force was small
There were not so many men. on tn
whole force as now drill out of any static
on a single shift. But they had Who'll
lot of territory to cover, for MinneapoIi
covered half as much ground when
was a small city as it does now .Unde
Chief Of Police Munger, who is now j
Seattle, headquarters were transferred
lookup alley, being located in sma
brick building, which has long since dis
appeared, across the alley from the pres
ent central station.
with the completion Of the old cit
hall, which was mammoth structure fo
those days, the central station had be
come too cramped for the transaction {
the entire police business Of the city, an
! police headquarters were established /
the Bridge square structure"