Author: aileen.johnson

For your knowledge and enjoyment, here is a description of the structure of the Minneapolis Police Department from the Annual Edition of the Minneapolis Tribune on January 1, 1890.

The Police Department

The Personnel of the Minneapolis Police Force

“The Police Department of Minneapolis is composed of exactly 200 men, and is as good a department as any city could wish for. The department is under the immediate charge of Superintendent W.M. Brackett, while it is controlled by the police commission composed of Mayor E.C. Babb, W.R. Guile and and N.H. Gjersten. This body has the power of appointing and dismissing men, fixing salaries and other miscellaneous business.

The city is divided into five precincts, to each one of which, with the exception of the Fifth, are assigned a captain, lieutenant, and three sergeants and a detail of men. At the Fifth Precinct there are two sergeants and a detail of man.

The First Precinct embraces the territory bounded by First Avenue North and Eighth Avenue South and the river and Twentieth Street. This is under the charge of Captain D.A. Day, with Lieutenant Thomas Coskran, Sergeants John Leonard, A.H. Volk, and S.A. Kirkham and a detail of 49 men under him. There are also two patrol drivers and two jailers.

The Second Precinct consists of the territory on the east side of the river, and the force consists of Captain William Bosworth, Lieutenant J.S.J. Bean, Sergeants P. Kennedy, William Dunn and Warner Breushaber and a detail of 26 men.

The Third Precinct embraces the territory south of Eighth Avenue South and the force consists of Captain Lewis Ness, Lieutenant Swan Walton, Sergeants Patrick Fox, Henry Krumweide, and W.S. Foster, two patrol drivers and two jailers.

The Fourth Precinct embraces the territory north of First Avenue North. The force here consists of Captain Martin Buerfening, Lieutenant Thomas Nelson, Sergeants John Kennedy, John Norman and James Allen, 24 patrolman, two patrol drivers and two jailers.

The Fifth Precinct embraces the outskirts of the city. The force here consists of Mounted Sergeants F.E. Coffin, Sergeant Charles N. Gustafson, 5 patrolmen and 15 mounted officers. This force is particularly useful in preventing the depredations common in this thinly-settled part of the city.

The force in the difference precincts are divided into three watches, as they are called, each under a sergeant. The day force goes on duty at 7 AM and off at 6 PM. The “6 o’clock watch” then goes on and serves until 4 AM when it goes off duty. The third or “9 o’clock watch” goes on duty at 9 PM and serves until 7 AM when it is relieved by the day force. By this arrangement two-thirds of the police force are on duty from 9 o’clock at night until 4 o’clock in the morning, the time when there is a greater liability for burglaries and other crimes. These watches alternate each month, and during the year each man serves four months on day duty and eight months on night duty. During the day the captain of each precinct is in command of the station, while at night the lieutenant is the commanding officer. Superintendent Brackett is present at police headquarters during the day, while at night the entire force is under the command of Captain Jacob Hein who acts as assistant superintendent. Each night there is a detail of from 4 to 6 men from the day force who are held at the Central Station as a night reserve. The men sleep at the station and are only called upon in case of a fire. In addition to this force there are six inspectors, one license inspector, one sidewalk inspector, one secretary to the superintendent, two clerks, three telephone operators, two janitors, one police matron, Mrs. Paine, and four court officers, all detailed from the regular police force.

At present prisoners are kept at only the First, Third and Fifth Precinct police stations, the Second and Fourth not being provided with jail facilities. All women who are arrested are brought at once to the Central Station and turned over to the care of Mrs. Paine, the police matron. Dr. R.D. Match is police surgeon.

There are 17 patrol boxes, where officers report by telephone at stated times to police headquarters, where a record is kept of the time and place where each man reports. Each man has a stated beat, while the sergeant of each watch makes the rounds of the precinct to see that all men are at their beats.

The total expense of the police department from January 1, 1889 to January 1, 1890 was $193,321.55. The number of arrests made during the year as of December 28 was 6,154.”

From the Minneapolis Tribune Annual Edition of January 1, 1890

Patrolman George W. Benzick looks happy as he watches the action during the game between the University of Minnesota Gophers and the Purdue University Boilermakers at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 13, 1928.

Patrolman Benzick was an officer in the Second Precinct and was on duty at the stadium.

The Gophers, with the help of Bronko Nagurski, won the game that day 15-0.

Photograph from the Minneapolis Sunday Tribune of Sunday, October 14, 1928

Yesterday, we shared the story of the tragic accident in the Grand Tetons and the Carnegie Medal awarded to Officer Ronald Ottoson for his bravery in trying to save the lives of Luis Ybarrondo and Wayne A. Creek.

Today, we are honored to share more materials including photographs, letters, and newspaper articles from the time of the tragedy, along with the memories of Retired Minneapolis Police Officer Ronald Ottoson.

In the words of Retired Officer Ottoson:

“When Officer James Hovda and I came upon the watery cavern, members of the first party were standing by it and informed us there was one climber dead at the bottom of the waterfalls. The cavern was located below a small drop-off or ridge and was not visible from above. Both of us realized another climbing party of four was coming down the mountain behind us.

Officer Hovda immediately climbed back up the mountain and began yelling for the parties to stop and in doing so saved the lives of two of the four.

I stood by the top of the drop off and saw Wayne Creek come tumbling over the ridge and into the cavern.

A few seconds later Luis Ybarrondo came over the ridge and fell into the hole.

Standing upon the ledge I was not able to see the bottom, which was approximately 30 feet deep and bent underneath and out of site”.

The Minneapolis Star interviewed Officers Ottoson and Hovda upon their return to Minneapolis in June of 1971.

Howard Chapman, Superintendent of the Grand Teton National Park, wrote to Minneapolis Police Chief Gordon Johnson commending the actions of Officers Ottoson and Hovda.

Here is additional information about the tragedy from the Resume of Officer Ottoson:

Here is a photograph of Officer Ottoson near the entrance to the cavern after he emerged following the rescue attempt.

In the photograph below, the Park Rangers carefully bear one of the bodies down to the base camp.

Officers Ottoson and Hovda were recognized for their bravery in the rescue attempt by the American Red Cross. They received their honors in a special presentation at the 1971 Convention of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association as reported by the Minneapolis StarTribune.

The Minneapolis Police Museum is proud of Retired Officers Ottoson and Hovda for the good they did on that terrible day.

We remember Luis Ybarrando and Wayne A. Creek and offer their families our heartfelt condolences.

The Minneapolis Police Museum is grateful to Retired Officers Ronald Ottoson and James Hovda for sharing their memories, photographs, letters, and newspaper articles from the time of the tragedy with us.

On June 19, 1971, 30 year-old Minneapolis Police Officer Ronald Ottoson attempted to save Luis Ybarrondo and Wayne A. Creek from drowning.

In the words of Chief Park Ranger Frank Betts, the accident that day at Grand Teton National Park was the worst in its long history.

On that day, several teams had signed up to climb the 10,500 foot Symmetry Spire. As the first team made its descent glissading down the steep mountain, 28 year-old climber Robert Deal tumbled into a partially-hidden water-filled snow cavern. His fellow climber Richard DaBell attempted to save him by lowering himself into the cavern by rope as did William Radtke but they were unable to reach Mr. Deal in time and he perished.

Minneapolis Police Officer Ronald Ottoson was in the second team which had halted at the ledge of the snow cavern and shouted out to the party behind them to halt.

Tragically, nine-year-old Luis Ybarrando and 36-year-old Wayne Creek could not stop and slid down into the crevasse. Officer Ottoson threw a rope coil into the darkness and, after feeling nobody tug on the rope, rappelled 20 feet down into the hole to find the two climbers tightly buried in snow up to their necks with icy water from a nearby snow-dammed stream filling the cave.

Despite Officer Ottoson’s heroic efforts to pull them to safety, the child Luis and Mr. Creek both drowned.

An attempt to recover the three bodies was made that evening by the Park’s Rescue team led by Ranger Bob Irvine but the night was too dark.

A recovery team of 12 members arrived the next morning. District Ranger Tom Milligan dropped into the narrow, slushy moat. The dammed-up water had drained overnight, such that two of the dead climbers were visible.

Despite harrowing conditions including the icy torrent falling from above, Milligan was able to attach a nylon sling to one victim. Other rescuers engineered a rope system to pull the body to the surface. On the next day of the operation, the team was able to recover a second body using the same technique. The technique was very dangerous however and so on the third day they devised a different technique which used water power to free the last body.

On July 12, 1971 Officer Ottoson and his colleague Minneapolis Police Officer James Hovda, who had also been there on the mountain, wrote in appreciation of the Park Rangers to the Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton.

Officers Ottoson and Hovda wrote:

“It is a credit to yourself and to our National Parks system that such high caliber personnel staff these areas. We wish to express our sincere appreciation for being able to witness their very inspiring team while operating on a mountain rescue mission”.

Officer Ottoson was honored by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission for his heroism.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awards the Carnegie Medal to individuals in the United States and Canada who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others. To learn more about the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission: https://www.carnegiehero.org/

The Minneapolis Police Museum is grateful to Retired Minneapolis Police Officers Ronald Ottoson and James Hovda for sharing this story.

Retired MPD Sergeant David Niebur recently shared a link with us to the documentary film of Minneapolis’ Skid Row shot by John Bacich in the late 1950s and early 1960s on a Bell & Howell 16 mm movie camera.

The still image above from Mr. Bacich’s film shows the 1962 version of the tan and brown MPD summer uniform before the addition of the All American City patch in 1963.

Here is a link to Mr. Bacich’s film, Skidrow: https://kingofskidrow.com/skidrow-film?fbclid=IwAR0bV-Jpd4YMxXETCv-vTeEN0KBmeisb3nvPEjiGk5ZEBBjPCHkXYFfQjM4

Please note that the film includes some graphic images and represents Mr. Bacich’s perspective as a Skid Row bar owner.

The Minneapolis Police Museum thanks Retired Sergeant David Niebur

The Minneapolis Park Police Department (MPPD) was founded in 1887.

MPPD uniforms were issued approximately one year later in 1888.

Until 1905, the MPPD uniforms were grey in color. After 1905, their color was changed to blue. They were identical to the MPD uniform in every aspect but their buttons.

The rare button shown above is one that was worn on the blue MPPD uniform.

The photograph below shows MPPD Office John Joseph Mueller in the blue uniform circa 1905.

Research and photographs courtesy of Retired MPD Sergeant David Niebur.

Here is a look at The Daily Bulletin which was published as a main vehicle of communication to all officers.

In this issue from April 27, 1944, Patrolmen Christian Peterson, Lloyd L. Jackman, Otto F. Stolp, and Wilford C. Berg were recognized by Chief Hillner for their excellent police work.

The Minneapolis Journal of December 8, 1941 ran a photograph of Police Officer John Albrecht and a group of Minneapolitans with the following caption:

“Police Sergeant John Albrecht had some kibitzers when he bought a war extra at Sixth Street and Hennepin. “I think that we’ll lick ‘em good,” Albrecht said after scanning the headlines.  His audience agreed with him.  This scene was duplicated around every newsstand in the city when the war extra appeared”.

Photograph from the Minneapolis Journal of December 8, 1941

Here is a photograph of Hennepin County Judge Chester Durda (right) and Officer Bill McFee (left) from 1967.

The photograph was taken in Room B61 in the basement of the Courthouse.

Judge Durda and Officer McFee are seen examining a large quantity of seized drug evidence.

Judge Durda passed away in 1990. Officer McFee passed away in 2002.

Both men were well-respected and highly-regarded members of their professions and legends of the Courthouse.