E.O.P.D. Back In Time
The Evolution of
American Policing
by Dan O.
Sabath
 It is no secret
that America inherited much of its governmental institutions
from Great Britain.
American law enforcement is no exception.
British policing can be traced back to before the Norman
Conquest of England in 1066. The first Europeans who
landed on our shores, found a strange and wondrous new land,
inhabited by strange and wondrous people. The newcomers had
all they could do to establish themselves and to protect
themselves from those who did not wish to share their land.
Thus, policing was the responsibility of all able-bodied men,
and, of course, young boys as well. After "things" got
fairly well settled the job of maintaining order in the new
colonies was given to Justices of the Peace, and one might see
"culprits" in pillories or stocks, paying their debt to
society. But, as colonies changed into towns and towns into
cities, the Justice of the Peace system was not enough. It
became time for an organized, and paid, police force. In
1636 the city of Boston established Night Watch, which idea
worked reasonably well as long as the area remained a rural
and agrarian one. New York City established the Shout and
Rattle Watch in 1651, but, by 1705 Philadelphia found it
necessary to divide the city into ten patrol areas. In
the almost 100 years between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars,
the more than rapid growth of population and industrialization
in America mandated the development of municipal police
departments.
 In 1833,
Philadelphia organized an independent, 24 hour a day, police
force. In 1844, New York City had two police forces; daytime
duty and the night watch. During this period, police
departments were headed by police chiefs, appointed and
accountable to political bosses. Corruption was commonplace.
Part of the inherited law enforcement was the Sheriff system.
(Remember the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin
Hood?) As America moved toward the west, in most frontier
towns the Sheriff was the chief law enforcement official. He
could be recruited from the local community, or more often a
Sheriff was selected by his reputation, and not always a
savory one. The Sheriff system still exists today, but, on a
more formal and politicized basis. Today's law
enforcement agencies and departments are highly specialized
organizations, with ongoing training to prepare to meet a
great variety of problems and situations. Today we have
federal, state, county, and municipal police. The world, our
world, has gotten to be a most dangerous place, and we all are
dependent on peace officers from every organization for our"
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
1970 safety memo flyer
distributed and signed by former Mayor James W. Kelly Jr.
click to enlarge
In Memory Of EOPD School
Crossing Guard Jackie McGee
click to enlarge
Click below
four pictures to enlarge East Orange's earlier times.
Click above two
photographs to enlarge the 1991 original E.O.P.D. Honor
Guard and the original 1986 Narcotics Task Force.
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Special Thanks
to Doctor Patricia M. Brady
daughter of the late EOPD Sergeant William Brady
for
donating most of the below nostalgia photographs.
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Above:
Patrolman Bartholomew A. Brady joined the EOPD in 1900 retired
1930 He was the father of the late EOPD Sergeant William Brady.
Below:
Photographs from the 1950's taken in front of East
Orange City Hall
Below
Photograph taken in the rotunda of East Orange City Hall
sometime in the late 1980's
EOPD Archives:
November 29th 1909 East Orange Bathtub Mystery
(click on
below green
text
links to view photo or image - to return back to EOPD website hit back
button)
It was a slow afternoon
on November 29, 1909 at the East Orange Police Department when
Sergeant Timothy Caniff answered the telephone. On the other end
of the line was the voice of an elderly woman with a strange
request, a "coroner". She explained there had
been an "accident", and gave her address as
89 North 14th Street.
Since Essex County did not
have a coroner, the Sergeant called
Dr.
Herbert M. Simmons, the
Assistant County Physician, located nearby close to the Ampere
Train Station. He walked across the
Lackawanna Railroad
Overpass
and continued
along three blocks until he reached the designated destination.
Before he could knock at the door it opened and he was greeted
by an elderly woman dressed in black with heavy veils obscuring
her face.  Taken
aback, the doctor felt reassured when she introduced herself in
a courtly southern accent as
Virginia Wardlaw.
This May be a Photograph of
Ocey's Snead's Actual
Suicide
Note. East Orange veteran detective,
Sergeant
William O'Neill, arrived at the dimly lit house on 14th
Street at around 6:00pm. With too many questions and too few
answers he ordered the woman in black held as a material witness
at the nearby
Essex
County Jail on Wilsey Street in Newark. When Virginia
Wardlaw was brought before a judge at the
Essex
County Courthouse in Newark the next day, dozens of
newspaper reporters and photographers were waiting. Very few
people are aware of the case today, and there remains very
little evidence of it. However,
the
bleak house photo still stands as a testament to Ocey's
death while it awaits recognition as a monument to
"Southern Pride", or as a monument to murder. Get the
complete story of this case by clicking here
E.O.
Bathtub Mystery
EOPD
Archives: September 6th 1903 Patrol Arrest #13 for Atrocious
Assault and Battery
Article
that appeared in the Newark Evening News - Now The Newark Star
Ledger....
Earnest
Cicree aka Earnest Zicree was sought for months for murder in
Providence, R.I., thefts of diamonds by the Police of Canada,
Rochester, Buffalo and is a possible suspect in the murder of
James J. Haag an Orange jeweler. Suspect was arrested at 42 Main
Street East Orange, the jewelry store of C. A. Lum by Detective
Christian Dell. As the detective was transporting Mr. Cicree to
headquarters by automobile, Cicree whipped out a .38 caliber gun
and pressed it to Dell's side. He snapped the trigger, but the
cartridge did not explode... Dell, a former seaman and standing
over six feet, grabbed his prisoner and a terrific struggle was
on.
The captive
suddenly flung himself out of the machine, notwithstanding
the auto was traveling thirty miles an hour. He landed violently
on his head, but picked himself up and darted into Mitchell
Place from Main Street. Dell soon lost him in a race over back
fences. A police dragnet was spread throughout the city, and an
hour later Patrol Motorcycle Policeman Charles Nadig caught the
fellow at South Orange and Munn avenues, near the Newark city
line. Cicree carried his revolver in a holster, the straps of
which fitted around his neck. He tore up pawn tickets for
jewelry, and the trail left by the pieces of pasteboard helped
in recapturing him.
At police
headquarters he pleaded he did not know what he was doing
because he was dazed from the use of cocaine. Cicree
represented himself as a Secret Service operative when he
entered Lum's place. He sought to obtain some diamonds by
checks. This was in the late afternoon. When he approached the
jeweler he opened his coat, and, drawing his gun, inquired of
the jeweler why the latter did not purchase a revolver like his.
Cicree went to another jeweler's, and Lum, suspicious notified
the police.
Actual
mug shot and written arrest report taken in 1903 - click to
enlarge arrest report
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EOPD
Archives: Photograph taken in 1949 of Officer Jack Owens
 Photograph taken at
the intersection of North Grove Street and 4th Avenue of an East Orange
Police Officer. Policeman in photo is positively ID as Officer
Jack Owens, thanks to Mr. Paul Schmitz.
Below is a copy of an e-mail received from
Mr. Paul Schmitz former resident of 339 No. Grove St on 12/29/02
On
your Back in Time page, you have a picture of an officer
at 4th and Grove. The name of that officer is Jack Owens. My
dad and mom both confirmed his name. My family lived on
the first floor of 339 N. Grove St - 2nd house from the
corner - in your picture. The Detore's lived in the house
on the corner - believe one of the Detore's, Bob, is mayor
of Verona. Mr. Owens used to come to our house for coffee
every Sunday morning. My dad gave him free haircuts. And
my parents had been to his house - my dad thinks it was in
Orange.
To Mr. Paul Schmitz our sincere gratitude.
Mr. Schmitz e-mail address:
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EOPD
Archives: From Police Memorabilia To Famous People
If
you live or work in New Jersey, you may have visited Clara Maass
Medical Center, or heard of the Clara Maass School of Nursing.
You may even have a recollection from elementary school of hearing of
her service to humanity. If you collect stamps, you may have come
across the 1976 commemorative stamp honoring Clara Maass and asked
this question: Who was this woman, the first nurse honored on a United
States postage stamp, as well as the first nurse for whom an American
Hospital was named? She was Clara Louise Maass born on June 28, 1876
in East Orange, New Jersey the first of 10 children. On August 14,
1901 she was bitten by mosquitoes that were believed to be infected
with the yellow fever virus. She became ill on August 18 and died on
August 24, 1901.
Besides being a famous place, New
Jersey is renowned the world over as the birthplace and home of many
famous ideas, innovations, and people. You might say that folks from
New Jersey can really carry a tune. Sing along with Frank Sinatra
(Hoboken), Connie Francis (Newark), Whitney Houston (East
Orange), Paul Simon (Hoboken), Bruce Springsteen (Freehold), Bette
Midler (Paterson), Dionne Warwick (East Orange), or Jon
Bon Jovi (Sayreville).
According to Shakespeare, "all the world's a stage"-but many
famous actors got their start on the stage in New Jersey. Think about
that the next time you see a TV show or movie starring Michael Douglas
(New Brunswick), Meryl Streep (Summit), John Travolta (Englewood),
Danny DeVito and Jack Nicholson (Neptune), Tom Cruise (Glen Ridge),
Joe Pesci, Bruce Willis, and Jon Forsythe (Penns Grove), Jerry Lewis
and Eva Marie Saint (Newark), Elisabeth and Andrew Shue (South
Orange), Thomas Mitchell (East Orange), and Robert Blake
(Nutley).
Below are two original photographs & one postcard of East Orange around the
late 1800's & early 1900's
(click to enlarge)
Original
photographs of the EOPD Traffic Unit taken in the 1960's
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