page_title: United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Image is similar, if not identical, to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police badge. Made with Photoshop.
context_page_description: The United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police is the uniformed law enforcement service of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, responsible for the protection of the VA Medical Centers and other facilities such as Outpatient Clinics and Community Based Outpatient Clinics operated by United States Department of Veterans Affairs and its subsidiary components of the Veterans Health Administration as well as the National Cemetery Administration and the Veterans Benefits Administration respectively. The VA Police have several divisions and operate separately but alongside the VA Law Enforcement Training Center under the umbrella of the Office of Security and Law Enforcement. The primary role of VA Police is to serve as a protective uniformed police force in order to deter and prevent crime, maintain order, and investigate crimes which may have occurred within the jurisdiction of the Department or its federal assets. Some cases are investigated in conjunction with agents from the Office of the Inspector General.
context_section_description: The roots of today's VA police force began at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (VHA origins) which was authorized as a national soldiers and sailors asylum by President Lincoln on March 3, 1865.
  A court martial system was established at the National Homes in September 1867 to consider all cases of offenses made by residents of the Home.  Judgment and sentencing were determined by the Governor of each National Home and a Sergeant of Police—a "member" of the Home—was appointed and paid $15 per month. By comparison, the home's chief baker was paid $20 monthly and nurses (male in those days) received $8. A guard house (jail) was located at each National Home branch to protect home "members" from themselves or others.
  The first official police force was authorized at the National Home in Dayton at the April 11, 1882 Board of Managers meeting in order to preserve "the peace and quiet of the branch." The force consisted of a Captain, one 1st Lieutenant, and one 2nd Lieutenant.  They were referred to as "guards" and the force eventually expanded to over 40 guards.  The Homes operated under military rules, which often did not suit many of the former farmers and young immigrant residents who lived there.  Drunkenness, fighting, violation of passes, profanity, disorderly conduct, and creating a nuisance were the most common offenses. Proceedings of the Home "court" were recorded in Discipline Books.
  The most serious offense, in those early days, was bringing liquor onto the Home grounds, followed by going "AWOL" (absent without leave) and "jumping the fence" (defiantly leaving grounds without permission). By the 1880s, all of the National Homes operated beer halls in an effort to control the quality and quantity of alcohol consumed by veterans and to confine the ill effects of drunkenness to the Home grounds.  Saloons cropped up in close proximity to all of the National Homes and were a constant temptation for many home residents. At Dayton there were 3,446 discipline charges recorded in 1888 including 1,192 for drunkenness and 1,138 for being AWOL. Members who misbehaved while AWOL were subject to civilian law and often arrested by civilian police and detained in community jails.
  Punishment for minor offenses at the National Homes included monetary fines and no passes for 30 days. For more serious crimes, veterans were often assigned to "dump duty." In the 19th century, "dump duty" meant emptying and cleaning cuspidors, bedpans, and picking up trash from the grounds. The most severe penalty inflicted was stone breaking—which was ordered for men who brought whiskey onto the grounds, "jumped the fenced," or willfully disobeyed orders. Stone breaking began at 7 o'clock in the morning.  A man was escorted from the guard house to his work pile and back until his sentence was completed.  He got one hour and 20 minutes for lunch and his day ended at 5:40. A stone breaking sentence could last for up to six months. Repeat incorrigible offenders were dishonorably discharged from the Home.
  The National Homes became part of the Veterans Administration in 1930 and the Home police forces were retained; however, their adjudication system and old guardhouses (jails) soon became obsolete.  Having no official police power at that time, guards checked entrants into VA properties, ensured safety of everyone on the grounds, and handed criminal offenders over to state or local police officers for processing in civilian courts or to the Department of Investigation (FBI after 1936) for federal crimes.  The Veterans Administration police operated in this manner for over 40 years.
  After 1970, violent criminal offenses increased on VA grounds and change was imminent for its police force. Guards were elevated to full police status and their training and responsibilities increased.  VA police were provided with a weapon: mace.  Afterwards, police batons were added and a VA Police training center was established in North Little Rock, Arkansas, to standardize their training.  During the 1980s, a number of incidents took the lives of four unarme
caption: VA Police Badge in use from 1989 to 2013
exif: {}