[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 49 (Monday, March 31, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E446-E447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN RECOGNITION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
                SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI, POLICE DEPARTMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ROY BLUNT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 31, 2008

   Mr. BLUNT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
Springfield, Missouri, Police Department as this year it celebrates 150 
years of distinguished service to a grateful community.
  In truth, the department actually traces its origins as far back as 
1829, when Campbell township, which would later become Springfield, was 
laid out and initially settled. Twenty years later, the community's 
first constable was appointed by a population consisting of a small 
group of families living on the outer edges of the wilderness. Law and 
order, of sorts, having been established, the population of Springfield 
grew rapidly as more families sought new challenges and opportunities 
in the beauty of the Ozarks.
   To keep up with a growing settlement, Springfield formally created a 
small police force in 1858--consisting of a marshal and two junior 
officers. Thus began in earnest what would later be recognized as one 
of the most effective and efficient community law enforcement agencies 
in the country.
   By the end of the 19th century, the chief of the Springfield Police 
Department was collecting a stout salary of $50 a month, and officers 
were making a whole lot less. And if the pay didn't scare them away, 
the department's

[[Page E447]]

standard uniform sometimes did: blue serge uniforms with English-style 
police helmets--attire strikingly similar to British ``Bobbies.'' 
Officers walked a beat 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the 
year. It would be 50 years and the passage of new Federal work laws 
before officers saw a 5-day work week, and another extended period of 
time before Springfield voters would approve the first pension plan for 
police officers and firemen.
   The first telephone arrived at the Springfield headquarters in 1898, 
and 2 years later a transport vehicle, dubbed the ``Black Maria'' and 
the ``Hoodlum Wagon,'' was put into use. The first automobile, a 
Studebaker, didn't roll into the station until 1910--but all beats 
would be covered by foot patrol into the 1960s.
   Under the leadership of Lieutenant Sam Robards, the Springfield 
Police entered a new era in 1940 by establishing an integrated police 
academy, creating a gun range, upgrading its weapons cache, and making 
mandatory a program of in-service training. The new gadgets of the 20th 
century that changed everyday life in America also enhanced the 
abilities and effectiveness of the police department.
   Nearly 100 years after the first patrol car went into service, 
modern patrol vehicles today are enclosed, climate controlled, and 
equipped with laptop computers, cellular telephones, and radios that 
provide instant contact between officers and commanders. As one would 
expect, this technology has had a real and immediate impact.
   Last year, the Springfield Police Department responded to more than 
100,000 calls for service and investigated more than 15,000 reported 
crimes. Just to give you some perspective, traffic enforcement didn't 
begin as an obligation of law enforcement until after World War I--with 
one Springfield officer, on foot, directing horseless carriages at the 
corner of Jefferson Avenue and St. Louis Street. The modern day 
Springfield Police force worked 9,000 traffic accidents last year and 
issued more than 53,000 traffic citations.
   Today, officers use small, highly sophisticated surveillance 
equipment to both prevent crimes and prosecute criminals. Cutting-edge 
science in forensic laboratories is now an essential part of crime 
solving. Officers of 1858 would marvel at the sophistication of the 
21st century law enforcement technologies being employed every day by 
the Springfield P.D.
   Other new scientific advances prompted the creation of the Bureau of 
Identification, which started taking fingerprints and photographs of 
all suspects in 1925. In the latter part of the century, the six-
shooter was replaced by 9mm semiautomatic handguns; automatic weapons 
and bulletproof vests were added and a tactical weapons squad became 
permanent additions to the force. Mace, batons, and riot helmets were 
issued for the first time in the 1960s. To respond to the rising tide 
of illegal drugs, the Springfield Police Department created a narcotics 
unit in the 1970s.
   Other innovations in law enforcement were realized in 1959, when the 
department first formed the Police Dog Unit, P.D.U., with three 
officers and three dogs. The unit was disbanded in 1979, only to be 
reestablished in 1994. Women became part of the Springfield Police 
Department in 1914 when Margaret Hull was enlisted as the first 
commissioned policewoman, charged with handling female prisoners. 
Sixty-two years later, the first female officer was sworn in to work as 
a patrol officer with her male counterparts. Black officers began their 
service on the police force starting in 1874 and have continued to 
serve their community with bravery and honor ever since.
  The Springfield Police Department began housing prisoners in 1874, 
welcoming their clients in a 15x30 foot wooden building with a dirt 
floor. The jail was located immediately west of the downtown business 
district, and is the site of the present day Calaboose, home of the 
department's Police Museum and Park Central Substation. At the turn of 
the 20th century, it wasn't unusual to see intoxicated partygoers 
hauled to jail in a wheelbarrow. Tough to get a DUI on three wheels, 
after all. But after nearly 130 years in the jail business, the 
Springfield Police Department transferred all incarceration 
responsibilities to the Greene County jail complex.
  The department headquarters have moved several times over the past 
century and a half--each time in response to a growing population and 
the demand for more police services. From near Park Central Square and 
West College Street in the late 1800s and finally into two modern 
stations on East Chestnut Expressway near city hall and on Battlefield 
Road, police headquarters are designed to be high security, limited-
access facilities to accommodate the logistical needs of a growing 
police force--and an ever-growing community.
  In 2003, the Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of 
Police announced the Springfield Police Department was a finalist in a 
worldwide competition recognizing outstanding community policing 
initiatives--a first for any police force in the State of Missouri. 
That same year, the Springfield Police Department was granted full 
accreditation status by a national commission for the third consecutive 
year.
  As much as things have changed over 150 years, some things have not. 
Just as in 1858, officers put their lives on the line for their 
friends, families, and neighbors each and every day. And just as in the 
past, the community of Springfield thanks those officers for their 
service, and forever honors the heroes that have fallen in the line of 
duty.
  Though not long, the list of officers killed while on the job reminds 
us every day of the solemn commitment others have made--and continue to 
make--to safeguard our security. Starting with Campbell Township 
Constable Jacob Baughman in 1871, nine Springfield officers have made 
the ultimate sacrifice. Four officers were killed in the 20th century's 
single deadliest law enforcement shoot-out on record--referred to by 
most as ``The Young Massacre.'' Also killed in that epic 1932 battle 
with the Young brothers was the Greene County sheriff, as well as his 
deputy.
  Today, our police officers serve as our first line of defense against 
a new and evolving threat--terrorism. The world is a much more 
dangerous place today than it was in 1829, and there are those--both 
homegrown and foreign--who would like nothing more than to visit harm 
upon the American people. It will be local police who likely detect and 
face that threat first.
  For all they have done over the last 150 years--and continue to do to 
this very day--I want to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to 
the Springfield Police Department, and congratulate it on reaching this 
historic milestone. I also want to urge my fellow citizens not to 
forget to thank each officer they see for the important work they do 
each and every day.

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