History 2

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1926

department

Evanston is the first city outside Washington , D.C. , to obtain and use a civil service promotional examination under the direction of the Federal Civil Service Commission.

1927

Officer Warren H. Omslaer, age 27, dies of injuries sustained in a traffic accident at Lee Street and Chicago Avenue involving a car driven by a former police officer and a police motorcycle on which Omslaer was a passenger in the sidecar. The third Evanston officer to die while on duty, Officer Omslaer had served only eighteen months with the department.

William O. Freeman

William O. Freeman is appointed chief of police on May 18.

Three “firsts” for the department: (1) A stolen automobile detail is established; (2) Evanston’s first traffic signal is installed; and (3) newly appointed Chief Freeman creates the Detective Bureau, supervised by Lieutenant Carl Ekman.

1929

Under the direction of Frank Kreml [see 1932, 1936, 1995, and 1999], Evanston establishes the nation’s first Accident Prevention Bureau. The later success of this bureau was recognized and imitated by other police departments throughout the country.

1932

Under Kreml’s leadership [see 1929, 1936, 1995, and 1999], Evanston’s Accident Prevention Bureau wins the first of many National Safety Council traffic safety awards, causing Evanston to be named America’s Safest City. (Only eight years earlier the city ranked fifth in U.S. traffic fatalities—due in large part, ironically, to the fact that many of its residents were wealthy enough to afford autos.) This marks the beginning of Evanston ’s long term leadership in innovative traffic control techniques.

The Evanston Police Department becomes the first department in the nation to own and operate a lie detector.

1936

Frank Kreml [see 1929, 1932, 1995, and 1999] is appointed director of the newly created Traffic Institute at Northwestern University . Still located in Evanston , the institute not only is acclaimed for innovative research and training, but also has become the traffic division of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, headquartered in Washington, D.C. (The institute changed its name to the Center for Public Safety in 2000.)

Early in the 1930s, one way radios (receivers) were used for police calls; the calls themselves were broadcast over WGN radio. Keeping up with the technology of the day, the Department installs two way radios in its fleet of 11 vehicles. The new police radio station is located in the tower of the Orrington Hotel and operated by remote control from the police station at Grove and Sherman. The entire cost ($12,000) of new radios and a broadcast station is raised by the Police Benevolent Association through the proceeds from policemen’s balls.

1939

Charles L. Paasch

Charles L. Paasch is appointed chief of police on August 21.

1941

“30 Minutes” Elmer Reiters retires—the first police officer in the nation to check overtime parking from a 3 wheeler motorcycle, a system copied widely both here and abroad.

Carl Ekman

Carl Ekman Sr. is appointed chief of police on September 29.

1948

Evanston installs its first parking meters.

1949

The new police/fire/municipal court building opens at 1454 Elmwood Avenue. Considered a police officer’s “dream come true,” the building houses a modern firing range, exercise rooms and equipment, and the latest in communication and evidence technology. The new facility replaces the former station built in the 1890s at Grove Street and Sherman Avenue.

NOTE: During the late 1940s, the Department becomes the first in the area to appoint a youth officer. Formerly, young people in trouble were referred to an official at the county level of government.

Peter J. Geishecker

Peter J. Geishecker is appointed chief of police on October 3 following the August 13 death in office of Chief of Police Carl Ekman Sr.

1953

Hubert G. Kelsh

Hubert G. Kelsh is appointed chief of police on November 10 following the November 9th death in office of Chief of Police Peter J. Geishecker.

1962

Bert Giddens

Bert Giddens is appointed chief of police on June 1.

1968

Officer Kip MacMillan is assigned to the newly created position of school liaison officer (grades four through eight)—a position intended to establish a better rapport among educators, young people, and the police. Officer Gerry Brandt later assumes a similar role, becoming the department's first Officer Friendly and interacting with students in kindergarten through third grade.

1969

In keeping with its long-standing tradition of handling youth problems locally with a person-centered approach [see 1949 note ref. youth officers], the Department creates a Youth Outreach Program staffed by civilians professionally trained to work with troubled young people and their parents.

The Department begins its participation in LEADS (Law Enforcement Agencies Data System), a computer and Teletype network connecting Evanston ’s police department to a computer in Springfield and, through that computer, to the National Crime Information Center operated by the FBI. The system provides the rapid exchange of information regarding missing and recovered property, as well as missing, wanted, or suspicious persons. [See 1991.]

William C. McHugh

William C. McHugh is appointed chief of police on October 7.

Evanston ’s police officers elect, by secret ballot, the Combined Counties Police Association to represent them in the negotiation of wages, hospitalization insurance, vacations, and other working conditions.

 

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