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Here is a glimpse into a Minneapolis Police Department recruiting campaign as featured in the local Norwegian language newspaper Minneapolis Tidende.

Translated into English, the text reads:

“Who can you contact for Information etc. to get into the Minneapolis Police Department? The Chief of Police. Applicants for employment with the Police must submit to a Civil Service Exam”.

Taken from the Minneapolis Tidende of March 2, 1922

On June 5, 1947, just one week before school closed for the summer, the Minneapolis Police Department launched a campaign to promote better traffic safety for children.

The total deaths for children from traffic accidents while playing numbered 6 in 1945 and 4 in 1946. By June of 1947, before school had even let out, 5 children had been killed and 300 had been injured from traffic accidents while playing.

The Traffic Bureau believed that many of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented if children were taught to watch for traffic. They cited the top reasons for child traffic deaths and injuries as follows:

• Darting into streets without stopping to look both ways
• Playing ballgames, hopscotch, or tag in the streets
• Riding two children to a bike and not paying attention to the road

Source: Minneapolis Morning Tribune of June 5, 1947

Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library

Early in the 20th Century, inter-city baseball games were a popular fundraising event for the Minneapolis Police Benevolent Association.

On July 30, 1909, at a game between the Minneapolis and St. Paul Police Departments, a total of $5000 or $141,646 in 2020 dollars was raised for the Minneapolis Police Benevolent Association. This brought its total reserves up to $12,000 or $339,952 in 2020 dollars.

In 1909, when a Minneapolis Police Officer died, his widow received a one-time payment of $500 or $14,164 in 2020 dollars. When a Minneapolis Police Officer’s wife died, the officer was allowed to draw $100 or $2,832 in 2020 dollars from the fund. Officers also received assistance from the fund in times of illness, injury, or disability.

Source: The Irish Standard (Minneapolis, Minnesota) August 7, 1909

Photograph from 1922 of Captain Arthur Jacobson who was a member of the Minneapolis Police Baseball Team courtesy of Hennepin County Library

The infamous, or perhaps famous, “Six Pack” came into existence in the early 1990s. Six women of the Minneapolis Police Department gathered over drinks, and a lifetime friendship was born.

Karen Runyon was part of the group. She was the forensic document examiner for the department, and she also ran her own consulting firm.

Karen was known across the nation for her knowledge, skill and expert testimony in hundreds of cases. She won many national awards for her work as well.

But to “Six Pack”, she was simply a friend, part of a special gathering of women.

When she developed breast cancer, she fought against it like she fought against injustice and unfairness everywhere. In late March of 2012, she lost that battle.

But she is, and will always be, a part of “Six Pack.”

Pictured from L to R: Cari Gerlicher; Michele Smolley; Penny Parrish; “Pepper the Dog”; Karen Runyon; Shirleen Hoffman; and Connie Leaf. Photograph courtesy of “Six Pack”.

On August 13, 1929, around 4:00 pm, 12-year-old Dorothy Aune was sent by her mother on an errand to the corner store at 24th Avenue South and 38th Street.

Dorothy never arrived at the store.

Her strangled and bound body was discovered at 6:30 the following morning near the railroad tracks at Hiawatha Avenue between 26th and 27th Streets by two iceman out on their rounds.

A special “homicide squad” was formed by Chief Harry C. Lindholm to investigate Dorothy’s murder. On August 23, 1929 he announced to the Minneapolis Star that the homicide unit would become a permanent department of the MPD.

Dorothy Aune’s murder was never solved. Numerous false leads were followed, persons of interest were questioned, suspects were arrested and even several confessions were made but all turned out to be false.

Photograph from the Minneapolis Star of August 16, 1929

On January 10, 1944, the Minneapolis Police Department launched the largest, most comprehensive police training course the city had seen. 120 Minneapolis Police Officers were enrolled in the training course which took place on the second floor of the Bryant Avenue Station. 

Chief Joseph Jonas thought that the training course was especially necessary and valuable at that particular time because more than 100 experienced Minneapolis Police Officers had entered the armed forces. Their replacements had relatively less experience in matters such as rules of evidence, proper methods of investigation and preparation of cases, amongst other subjects.

The curriculum included courses on criminal law, evidence, accident investigations, use of photography, scientific aids, court work, and traffic laws.

The students were drawn equally from the general force and from the traffic department.  

Traffic Captain Oscar Bakken was enthusiastic about the training course because it would teach the most modern methods of traffic control. Thinking ahead to peacetime, Captain Bakken believed that the course would prepare his department to better cope with post-war driving conditions.  “Adjustment to peacetime driving habits of both soldiers and civilians is likely to create a problem,” he said. 

The instructors came from Northwestern University, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Automobile Safety Club Council, and the City Attorney’s Office.  Municipal Judges and Police Identification Experts also taught classes.  

The training course ran for nine weeks with three classes of 40 officers each receiving three weeks of instruction. The last week of each class was spent doing field work.

The entire cost of the training course was $1000.

Source: Minneapolis Tribune from December 19, 1943

Pictured in photograph from L to R: Minneapolis Police Sergeant Clair Tripp and Instructor H.R. Hamm teach a traffic control scenario as Officers Wayne Nissen and Carl Johnson participate in the Minneapolis Police Officer Training course at the Bryant Avenue Station. Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library

Although there had been smaller drills previously, Minneapolis executed its first city-wide blackout drill on the night of September 11, 1942.

The blackout drill covered all 5,600 blocks of the city.

8,000 Air Raid Wardens, 500 Minneapolis Police Officers, 500 Auxiliary Police Officers, 500 Firefighters, 750 Auxiliary Firefighters, 400 Rescue Squad Workers, 500 Relief, Evacuation, and Medical Workers as well as the Red Cross and the Boy Scouts took part in the blackout drill.

Newspaper reporters cruised around the city with Minneapolis Police Detectives William H. Fabriz and Glen W. McLean (later Chief of Police from 1946-48).

One half hour before the blackout drill began, Hennepin Avenue was lined with people waiting to watch. Entire families gathered on porches and in doorways on Grant Street as if awaiting a parade.

Once the blackout began, the streets were so dark that reporters commented that they could as well be in the middle of the ocean or Wyoming.

A few violations were noted by Detective McClean: a lit office building on 2nd Street South; a building on 5th and Nicollet Avenue with lights burning on the 4th Floor; and a large lighted-sign on 4th Street and Marquette Avenue were recorded.

During the blackout drill, the inside of Police Headquarters was lit by candles and a reporter described it as having a Christmasy appearance.

Wardens were “stumped” by a glow coming from a dead tree at the home of E.O. Swanson at 4157 – 45th Avenue South. The glow was visible from 100 feet away and after some investigation it was found to be from phosphorus emanating from the wood of the tree.

After the “All-Clear” sounded, the Red Cross served donuts and coffee to all of the “casualties” in front of the State Theater. At the same time, across town near Humboldt Avenue South and 24th Street, Air Raid Wardens Joseph Broude and H.E. Beatty found a blue satin nightgown sitting on a curb without its owner.

Source: Minneapolis Star for Friday, September 11, 1942.

Photograph of the large switch, located at an undisclosed location in Minneapolis, used to shut down streetlights courtesy of Hennepin County Library

Photograph of Detective William H. Fabriz from April 5, 1938 courtesy of Hennepin County Library

Photograph of Chief Glen W. McLean from 1946 courtesy of Minneapolis Star

Shortly after 6:00 pm on August 1, 2007, the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis was loaded with rush hour traffic creeping through an ongoing construction project.  Without warning, the bridge collapsed, taking with it 111 vehicles. Thirteen people died and 145 were injured in the collapse of the bridge.

State and local units from fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, emergency management and public works immediately received alerts. Emergency responders were faced with a number of tasks: (1) rescue people from the vehicles and the water; (2) extinguish car fires; and (3) treat and transport the injured.

The successful rescue and recovery efforts were largely the result of prior planning by a team that had anticipated a major disaster, funded improvements in critical infrastructure and increases in emergency personnel, and trained as a team by working across organizational boundaries. 

The disaster presented some unique jurisdictional issues. The Federal government owned the bridge, but the bridge was operated by the State of Minnesota. After the collapse, the bridge lodged into the Mississippi River and along the river’s banks. The river was under the jurisdiction of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol, but the banks of the river were under the jurisdiction of the Minneapolis Police Department. In addition, multi-agency resources from adjoining counties and cities, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Navy all assisted in the rescue efforts. 

FEMA lauded the overall performance of the rescue efforts and noted that the combination of foresight, investment and teamwork prepared the emergency responders for the disaster. In its report, FEMA noted, ”Strong working relationships and knowledge of roles and procedures were arguably the greatest strengths of the Minneapolis emergency services community’s response. The city had invested heavily in the development of those relationships, which were built through plan development, universal NIMS training, appropriate use of exercises and strategic planning over several years”.

“These factors contributed heavily to creating an environment in which key players not only knew each other, but were familiar with the operations and disaster assignments of others. When it came time to pull together efficiently as a team – they did.”

The timeline of events as captured by the FCC below demonstrates that emergency resources were mobilized quickly and effectively during the disaster: 

6:02 PM – Bridge collapses without warning. 

6:05 PM – EMS units dispatched for possible bridge collapse. 

6:06 PM – Minneapolis Fire Department (MFD) dispatched to the bridge for a reported bridge collapse. Dispatch received data from bridge cameras confirming extent of damage. Dispatched units notified of reports of injuries, extensive structural damage, and cars in water. 

6:11 PM – First dispatched units arrive on scene. Emergency responders establish command post and assess situation. 

6:16 PM – Second alarm status requested and five additional MFD units dispatched. 

6:18 PM – Additional MFD units arrive on scene. Responding fire units brief command of status of situation.

6:24 PM – Emergency Operations Center (EOC) opened and staffed 24 hours a day for next four days. On August 5th it began operating 12 hours a day until August 20th when the last body was recovered. 

6:25 PM – MFD Assistant Chief of Operations assumes command and sets up command post. Minneapolis Police Department establishes their command post. Operating under the Incident Command System, rescue operations are expanded. 

6:26 PM – Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Supervisor arrives on scene and assumes command of water rescue activities. 12 agencies with 28 watercraft arrive within the first hour. Two 25 foot boats will be dispatched by the Coast Guard and arrive within 5 hours. 

6:50 PM – Responding units provide a status of activities. Preliminary search of bridge is now complete, rescue activities proceeding in water, units report a collapse of bridge with some victims entrapped within collapsed structure, they report fires are being contained, and that an engineer is on the bridge to assess its stability. 

7:00 PM – Engineers report that bridge stability is questionable. 

7:27 PM – It is determined that all individuals on the bridge and next to the water have been rescued. Rescue phase of operation is now complete. Recovery operations will officially begin at dawn on 8/2, the following day. 

7:55 PM – Last live rescue victim transported from scene.

8:11 PM – 50 patients have now been transported to various hospitals by EMS. 61 units including 31 ambulances have responded. 110 people will require treatment at hospitals or emergency clinics. 13 deaths will be reported. 

Until midnight on August 2nd, the 911 call center received approximately 300 calls per hour. Recovery operations were conducted until August 20th and operations associated with the removal of debris, monitoring of hazardous material, and other activities associated with the disaster continued for even longer. 

The National Transportation Safety Board ultimately determined that the probable cause of the collapse of the I-35W bridge was the inadequate load capacity, due to a design error of the gusset plates, which failed under a combination of (1) substantial increases in the weight of the bridge, which resulted from previous bridge modifications, and (2) the traffic and concentrated construction loads on the bridge on the day of the collapse. 

We are thinking today of those who perished in the disaster and of their families and friends, of those who were injured, and of those who arrived on the scene to help all who needed them.

Sources:

“Minneapolis Interstate 35W Bridge Collapse” from Minnesota Legislative Reference Library – Minnesota Issues Resource Guides

“Emergency Communications during the Minneapolis Bridge Disaster: A Technical Case Study” by the Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau’s Communications Systems Analysis Division

“U.S. Fire Administration/Technical Report Series I-35W Bridge Collapse and Response Minneapolis, Minnesota USFA-TR-166/August 2007” from FEMA

Photographs from “Minneapolis Police 150th Anniversary” book published by Acclaim Press (currently out of print)