Category: History

For more than one year, Chief Frank Brunskill had studied trends in police departments across the nation before a reorganized Policewomen’s Bureau launched in January of 1928.

At the head of the newly-reorganized Policewomen’s Bureau was Lieutenant Blanche Jones.

At its center were: Etta Tollefson who had been appointed Policewoman on July 20, 1914; Georgianna Sharrott who had been appointed Policewoman on November 11, 1914; Minnie Staples, who had been appointed Policewoman on April 2, 1914; and Florence Riel, a civilian clerk.

Chief Brunskill had partnered with district court judges and social service workers to influence the city to add money to the police budget to hire four additional Policewomen. While Lieutenant Jones and Officers Tollefson, Sharrott, and Staples worked through cases at the courthouse, the four new Policewomen patrolled department stores, dance halls, cafes and other places where young girls and boys congregated.

An interesting glimpse into the life of Policewoman Minnie Staples shows that her late husband, John D. Staples, was a Detective with the Minneapolis Police Department.

Detective Staples had been appointed to the department on January 26 1911. He served first as a Probation Officer in the Municipal Court. On January 1, 1915, he was made a Plainclothes Sergeant and then was promoted to the rank of Detective on August 16, 1916. He held that rank for the majority of his career. For a short time in 1923, Detective Staples served as Captain of the North Side Station.

Detective Staples retired on September 1, 1931. Sadly, only 9 days later while enjoying a rest up at his camp on Hungry Jack Lake north of Grand Marais, Detective Staples passed away from a heart attack. Detective Staples held four citations for meritorious work on the force.

Policewoman Minnie Staples continued her career with the Minneapolis Police Department well into the mid-1940s and it is believed that her work gave her a sense of purpose after the death of her husband.

Photograph of Minneapolis Policewomen from the Minneapolis Tribune of January 22, 1928
Photograph of Detective John Staples from the Minneapolis Tribune of September 10, 1931

Mrs. Bush meets Minneapolis Police Officers and other members of the Minnesota Task Force 1-Urban Search and Rescue Team during her visit to the site of the I-35W bridge collapse on August 3, 2007.

Photograph courtesy of the National Archives

On Friday, August 3, 2007, First Lady Laura Bush surveyed the wreckage of the I-35W bridge collapse with Minneapolis Police Deputy Chief Robert Allen.

That same day, Mrs. Bush also visited the Emergency Operations Command Center and met with volunteers and first responders.

Photograph courtesy of the National Archives

Do you remember the excitement of hosting Super Bowl LII in Downtown Minneapolis in 2018? And how fun it was to welcome visitors from around the world to the “Bold North”?

Planning for a safe Super Bowl took more than two years of effort by the Minneapolis Police Department.

More than 3,000 sworn officers from 60 Minnesota jurisdictions and 40 federal agencies took part in the event. Officers from Ely to Rochester joined the Minneapolis Police Department to keep Minneapolis and its 125,000 Super Bowl visitors safe.

Minneapolis Police Officers worked with members of 30 different constituency groups to ensure that protesters could safely make their voices heard while ensuring that transportation flowed safely and efficiently to and from and around downtown event locations.

And, as they always do, Minneapolis Police Officers focused on the day-to-day duties of their profession. Chief among their successes during Super Bowl Week was the peaceful negotiation and resolution of a two-day stand-off at a hotel on the University of Minnesota campus.

We welcome you to share your memories of the event!

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

On this day in 1920, the Tennessee legislature narrowly approved the 19th Amendment extending the right of suffrage to women. Eight days later, on August 26, the U.S. Secretary of State proclaimed the amendment ratified.

It seems like a great time to chronicle the work of some of the women pioneers of the Minneapolis Police Department.

One early policewoman whose work predated the ratification of the 19th Amendment was Emilie Glorieux.

Officer Glorieux was appointed to the Minneapolis Police Department by Mayor J.C. Haynes on September 11, 1911. She reported to Chief Michael Mealey and had her office in the rooms of the Humane Society.

Officer Glorieux’s primary responsibility was the oversight of the public dance halls of Minneapolis. She was responsible for ensuring that nobody under the age of 21 be allowed into the public dance halls.

The responsibilities of her office extended beyond the dance halls and, like the majority of the policewomen of her time, she was often involved in preventing or addressing crimes committed by or against juveniles.

Officer Glorieux was in great demand as a speaker at various women’s clubs, university clubs and study groups.

On January 24, 1913, Mayor Wallace G. Nye informed Emilie Glorieux that he could not reappoint her to her role as policewoman because the law did not actually permit the appointment of policewomen. A bill was in front of the legislature that would allow the mayor to appoint as many as five policewomen but until that bill became a law Mayor Nye could not reappoint Emilie Glorieux as policewoman.

Articles and photograph courtesy Minneapolis StarTribune

On May 10, 1976, the Minneapolis Police Special Operations Division (SOD) had a chance to develop their rappelling skills.

The SOD members practiced at a five-story fire tower behind Fire Station 11 in Southeast Minneapolis.

The purpose of the training was to provide the officers the skills they needed in such a case where they were required to make a rescue or reach a suspect high in a building where the only access was from above.

The members of the SOD were joined in the rappelling training by their 51-year-old Captain Rollo Mudge.

Officer Jack Giebel, Sergeant Jerry Shanahan, Officer Jim Hovda and Officer Doug Madsen were amongst the SOD members who took part in the training.

Officer Shanahan was reported to have stepped out onto a window ledge, grabbed the rope, tilted his head back and walked right down the wall first one step at a time and then with big bounces once he got the hang of it.

Officer Madsen may have thought that it was a bit hairy going out the window but once he got going he had a lot of fun with it and wanted another turn.

The team was scheduled to train the next day on the Nicollet Avenue Bridge at Minnehaha Creek.

Source: Minneapolis StarTribune of May 11, 1976

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

We found a gem of a document in the museum archives that we would like to share with you today. Here is a look at the vehicle specifications for a fleet of cars to be purchased by the Minneapolis Police Department in 1974.

As you will recall from an earlier post, 1974 was the year in which the black-and-white squad cars were replaced, for a time, with an all-white model. The squad car pictured above is the older Plymouth Fury re-painted in the all-white color scheme.

If you have a photograph of one of the 1974 models as described in the specifications, or have experiences of driving one of the 1974 models, we would love to hear from you! Please comment below or email us at info@mplspolicemuseum.org

Thank you!

Beginning on April 22, 1942, Minneapolis Police Detectives attended 10 days of instruction in advanced methods of crime detection.

The course was conducted by FBI agents and it took place at the Bryant Avenue Station. The course was focused on detection during war emergencies, especially in the event of bombing.

Detectives learned how to discern whether a window was broken from the inside or the outside and also how to thwart attempts to collect insurance illegally.

They viewed and received instruction from film footage taken of emergency police work executed in London during bombing raids.

In the photograph above (from L to R), FBI Agent W.M. Sirene is instructing Detectives George Barry and H.W. Holmquist in the finer points of fingerprinting.

Source: Minneapolis Tribune of April 22, 1942

On the evening of March 12, 1942, the Minneapolis Police Department launched a training course for 500 men who were hoping to qualify for membership in the new Auxiliary Police Force.

The Auxiliary Police Force was established to provide aid to the Minneapolis Police Department should bombing or any other war disaster strike Minneapolis.

Training took place at the Marigold Ballroom at 8:00 pm every Thursday evening for 16 successive weeks. The volunteers received 32 hours of instruction in first aid, fire and gas defense, drilling, and general police work. Volunteers had the option of taking additional training which would lead to Red Cross First Aid certification.

They also studied from a 45-page handbook which was issued by the Minnesota Office of Civilian Defense. It was written by Elden Rowe who was at the time the State Crime Bureau Chief.

The first evening of training began with a discussion of general duties led by Police Chief Edward B. Hansen. Following the Chief, Detective Ed Ryan, who was head of the internal protection detail, lectured on sabotage dangers and prevention.

After completing the 16 week course, volunteers were required to pass a final examination before joining the Auxiliary Police Force.

A similar training course for an Auxiliary Fire-Fighting Force was scheduled to begin in early summer.

Source Minneapolis Tribune of March 12, 1942

Photographs Courtesy of Hennepin County Library

In the top photograph, Chief Hansen inspects the line-up of recruits for the Auxiliary Police Force

As shown in the article above from “The Horseless Age”, after having made good use of its first automobile patrol wagon, the Minneapolis Police Department ordered another one.

Additionally, in January of 1911, bids were solicited and were under review for an additional automobile for the department. Among the three models under consideration were:

• A Rambler Model 65 which was a large machine with a 45 horse power, 431 cubic inch four-cylinder engine on a 125-inch wheelbase chassis. The cost of the bid was $3800 (or $103,640 in 2020 dollars).
• A Model Y Stevens-Duryea which was a large machine with a 40 horsepower, six-cylinder engine. The cost of the bid was $4000 (or $109,195 in 2020 dollars).
• A Mitchell Model S which was a large machine with a six-cylinder, 50 horsepower engine and a three-speed gear box. The cost of the bid was $3,700 (or $100,913 in 2020 dollars).

To give some perspective, the average cost of these vehicles was approximately six times the price of a new 1911 Model T Ford. 

Source: Proceedings of the City Council of Minneapolis from January 27, 1911

Excerpt from The Horseless Age, July 1909

Photograph by Unknown, Public Domain