Category: History

In 1942, the Minneapolis Police Department built and configured the Air Raid Control Center which was subsequently staffed and managed by municipal employees.

This photograph was taken on September 11, 1942.

From left to right we see: O. A. Pearson, Chief of the Air Raid Control Center for Minneapolis, conferring with Spencer Brader, his assistant while Nathan Harris, Panel Clerk, records the location and type of incident reported to the telephone bank operators and Herman Olson, Plotter, charts the incident on a large map of the city.

Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library

A line of Air Raid Wardens receive instructions at the East Side police station before the first Minneapolis air raid blackout drill in 1942.

Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library

Here is a photograph of Officer Melvin M. Gunderson helping push a car uphill on a cold and snowy winter’s night. We think that this photograph may have been taken in South Minneapolis. We do not know what year this photograph was taken and wonder if anyone can help identify the approximate year?

Photograph courtesy of Hennepin County Library

In 1950, the U.S. Census recorded the population of Minneapolis at 521,000 residents. At that time the Minneapolis Police Department was comprised of nearly 600 sworn officers.

On the right in this 1950s photograph is Lieutenant Russell Krueger who went by the nickname of “The Sly Fox”. He is inspecting loaded dice which had been seized in a raid of an illegal gambling house. Lieutenant Krueger would go on to be one of the greatest homicide investigators in the Minneapolis Police Department along with his partner, Bob O’Rourke.

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

Captain George Riviere was described in his time as being an extremely efficient and well-liked member of the Minneapolis Police Department.

He was born on a farm in Berthier County, Canada in 1863 and came to Minneapolis in 1880. Captain Riviere was one of the thousands of men of his generation who made their living in the sawmills of the “Mill City” during the summer and retreated to the woods in the winter to work as lumberjacks.

Captain Riviere was appointed to the Minneapolis Police Department on July 10, 1886 by Mayor A.A. Ames and assigned to the Central Station. In 1897, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant by Mayor Robert Pratt.

In 1900, he lived at 2804 Sheridan Avenue North with his wife Elodie Zulma Poissant and their children George, Henry and Edward.

In 1905, he was promoted to the rank of Captain by Mayor David Jones and in 1911 and 1912, he served as Assistant Superintendent of the Department. As he was growing a bit older in 1913, Captain Riviere was given charge of the Municipal Court security detail. He held that position until the mid-1930s, when he retired from the Department.

Throughout his life, Captain Riviere was a prominent member of the Herman Lodge #18 of the Knights of Pythias; the Flour City Camp of the Modern Woods Men of America; and the Relief Society.

Captain Riviere was widowed in 1938 and lived until March 8, 1948. We have no details about his funeral service nor know where he was buried.

We are hoping to learn more about the officers who served in the Policewomen’s Bureau so that we can feature them in upcoming spotlight articles.

In the top photograph, you will see the membership of the Policewomen’s Bureau as it existed in 1929. From left to right are pictured:

• Blanche Jones – Lieutenant
• Ethel Ray Nance – Investigator and Patrol Officer
• Loraine Walling – Investigator and Patrol Officer
• Mary Hans – Investigator and Patrol Officer
• Florence Riel – Assistant to Lt. Jones

The bottom photograph, shows the Policewomen’s Bureau in 1938.

From left to right seated are:

• Gladys Cooke – Investigator and Patrol Officer
• Carrie Bystrom – Investigator and Patrol Officer
• Mary Stolze – Investigator and Patrol Officer
• Blanche Jones – Lieutenant

From left to right standing are:

• Edith Evans – Investigator and Patrol Officer
• Elsie Mueller – Investigator and Patrol Officer

Minnie Staples, who was an Investigator and Patrol Officer, was not present when the photograph was taken in 1938.

Do you have any information about the officers of the Policewomen’s Bureau that you can share with us? If so, please comment below or email us at info@mplspolicemuseum.org

Thank you!

Top photograph courtesy of the Minneapolis StarTribune. Bottom photograph courtesy of the Hennepin County Library. 

In 1898 the Department was led by Chief Vernon M. Smith who had been appointed by Mayor W.H. Eustis in 1892 and retained by Mayor Robert Pratt upon his election in 1894. In total, Vernon M. Smith served as Chief from 1892 to 1899. Chief Smith had been an engineer early in his career and during his tenure had taken as his primary focus the improvement of the general efficiency of department operations.

In 1898, the Minneapolis Police Department was comprised of 213 officers, distributed accordingly:

• Headquarters – 19
• First Precinct – 57
• Second Precinct – 32
• Third Precinct – 39
• Fourth Precinct – 38
• Fifth Precinct – 21
• Municipal Court – 7

Also for 1898, we have the following figures:

• Total Department Expenditures – $214,028
• Total Value of Property – $97,000
• Total Number of Arrests – 4,785

Photograph of Fifth Precinct in 1898 taken from History of the Fire and Police Departments of the Twin Cities published by American Land & Title Register Association, 1899.

Pictured above is the full roster of the Minneapolis Police Department in 1883 as recorded in the Minneapolis Annual Report of the same year. It shows a department of 66 members with the following breakdown:

• 1 Chief
• 2 Captains
• 2 Lieutenants
• 4 Sergeants
• 2 Detectives
• 46 Patrol Officers
• 2 Court Officers
• 2 Jailers
• 1 Stone Pile Supervisor
• 1 Paddy Wagon Driver
• 3 Watchmen

Let’s place the spotlight for a moment on one member of the roster, Sergeant John H. Leonard, who was appointed to the Department by Mayor Ames on June 14, 1882 and promoted to Sergeant in August of 1887.

Sergeant Leonard was born in St. John’s, New Brunswick on April 9, 1853. He spent his early years in Boston where he was educated in the public schools. After his school days ended, he learned the trade of wood-turning before moving west to work in the Superior mines. In 1877, Sergeant Leonard made his way to Minneapolis.

From his obituary in The Irish Standard on May 26, 1906 we learn that for nearly 20 years Sergeant Leonard was one of the most popular and efficient members of the Department.

Some of the words that the St. Paul Daily Globe used to describe Sergeant Leonard were “painstaking”, “kind”, “cool-headed”, and “considerate”.

Sergeant Leonard passed away on May 20, 1906 at the age of 52 after an illness with Bright’s disease. His funeral services commenced from his home at 46 Eastman Avenue to St. Anthony Church where the services were led by Father Lee. Flowers were given by his family and friends, by the Minneapolis Police Department, and by the Woodmen of the World. Sergeant Leonard was interred at St. Mary’s Cemetery on May 23, 1906. He was survived by his wife and seven children.

Are there persons from the history of the Minneapolis Police Department whom you would like to see featured in a spotlight article? If so, please comment below or email us at info@mplspolicemuseum.org and we will do our level best to feature them.

The first formal mention of uniforms for the Minneapolis Police Department came from Mayor Ames in his inaugural address of April 11, 1876.

Mayor Ames said, “This important branch of the city government will, as the charter contemplates, receive my best personal endeavors to place it upon an efficient footing. As it is proposed to have all the officers in full uniform while on duty, I would recommend to your honorable body that an appropriation be made…”*

According to Eric H. Monkkonen on page 61 of his book, Police in Urban America, 1860-1920, just three days after Mayor Ames’s remarks, Chief Munger had the entire department kitted out in uniform, long before the city could decide on how it might pay for them. One month later Chief Munger himself appeared in “a nobby new blue uniform with buttons all over him”.

*Mayor Ames’s remarks from the Minneapolis Daily Tribune of April 12, 1876. Digitized copy courtesy of the Hennepin County Library and the Minnesota Historical Society https://www.mnhs.org/newspapers/lccn/sn83016762/1876-04-12/ed-1/seq-1

Photograph showing Minneapolis Police Officers in uniform in 1892 courtesy of Hennepin County Library

In the late 1890s, it was thought by some Minneapolitans that the area of the city on the west bank of the Mississippi River was more exciting, bustling and cosmopolitan than the area to its east.

During his time with the Minneapolis Police Department, Captain Swan Walton would have been familiar with and may have even visited – whether on duty or at leisure – the Pence Opera House, the Academy of Music, the Lyceum Theater, the Palace Theater, the Grand Opera House, the Bijoux Opera House, the Theater Comique, and the Scandinavian Concert Halls in their locations downtown to the west of the Misssissippi River.

During his time of service, Captain Walton would also have seen the construction of some impressive public buildings west of the river.

As pictured above, the Post Office had its first foundation stone laid at the corner of Third Street and First Avenue in 1886. Construction started on the City Hall and Courthouse in 1888. In 1889, the Library and Athaneum opened on Hennepin Avenue and Tenth Street. Then in 1890, the Masonic Temple on Hennepin Avenue and Sixth Street opened its doors.

Illustrations taken from History of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota (Atwater, 1893)