FROM THE "POLICE-TRENTON" FOLDER

 

 

 

 This selection of digitized articles from the very large Hamilton Library digital database goes way back to the 1860's and gives a fair idea of the situation of law enforcement back in the day. Wayward boys were caught i the act, and the punishment meted out was immediate and severe; no "plea bargaining" back then. The last article tells the story of "The Black Hand," where members of that criminal society preyed on innocent Italian immigrants; bringing to mind that scene in the movie, the "Godfather."

1932: POLICE DESTROY ILLEGAL SLOT MACHINES

Over the years, there were numerous articles detailing the confiscation of slot machines. One I remember is an arrest of white Horse's Andy Gropp for having a few units in his establishment. I love to play the slots, but I don't; knowing that I would become addicted to that tempting possibility of hitting it big.

1933: RECALLING THE TRENTON POLICE IN THE 1890'S

This article has been seriously re-formatted. The original had text stretching from the top of the page to the bottom, and would not be legible if I tried to post it as published. Accordingly, I shortened the column, divided it into thirds and re-inserted the photo of the police officers. How austere the Trenton police department was back in that Victorian era! Eighteen hour days? Fifty dollars a month? Seven hundred dollars a year? WOW!

1922: TRENTON POLICE MOTORCYCLE SQUAD

The above primitive offset photo from 1922 is not the quality I prefer, but unfortunately the art of offset photography was yet to be perfected. However, one can get an fleeting idea of what the men in blue were riding as the cruised the streets of Trenton during the roaring twenties. The "Trenton Police Department" graphic has borrowed from Moe Crosby's incredible Trenton Police history page. If you haven't been there, you are really missing a treasure of local history.....not only police, but many nice Trenton-related graphics. Click on

http://trentonpdhistory.organd enjoy what had to be a monumental task.

1910: THE NEW FANGLED HORSELESS CARRIAGES

In an ongoing project of restoring many lost graphics on the blog due to a "GOOGLE GLITCH," I have been hopscotching all over the years from 2005 when this blog began and up to the current date. I find that most of the missing graphics are from the 2009 and 2010 period. I have also been opening various folders in order to get an idea of how many of each I have posted and entered into the Hamilton Township Local Library Local History Collection database. I am currently working on the "POLICE-TRENTON" folder, where there are now 450-plus articles and photos. The above article is one of them, relating the outrageous speeding being done by certain horseless carriage drivers during the first decade of the 30th century.

Anonymous said...

Tom - Thanks for restoring the blog entries that were "glitched" by Google. This must be a tremendously hard job for you. Just know that we appreciate all the work you are doing.
Lakeside Girl

Friday, March 16, 2012

Tom Glover said...

I WILL BE RESTORING THESE PHOTOS FOR MONTHS, ELEANOR. AT THE SAME TIME I AM ENTERING IDENTIFYING INDICES IN THE "LABELS" AREA SO THAT A COMPLETE SEARCH WILL BE POSSIBLE.

TOM

Friday, March 16, 2012

1917: TRENTON'S FIRST BLACK POLICE OFFICER

As I followed the exploits of Vincent Harvey and his desire to be a Trenton police officer, it became clear to me that nasty, nasty racism was alive and well in the early part of the 20th century. The pages of the Trenton papers from that era held many articles detailing the off duty and on duty negative behavior of white policemen. There were obviously many local Trentonians who didn't like the idea of a black man assuming the role of protector of the people. Interestingly, the candidate who replaced officer Harvey, a young man named John Green was also dismissed on a number of accounts including intoxication while on duty.

1888: THE EFFICIENT TRENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

BACK WHEN THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED, TRENTON WASN'T THE TOWN WITH GLASS ENCRUSTED STATE AND COUNTY BUILDINGS. RATHER, IT WAS A TOWN OF MODEST MEANS WITH SMALL MOM AND POP STORES SCATTERED AMONG THE THEATERS, SALOONS AND RESTAURANTS. THIS ARTICLE IS PARTICULARLY INTERESTING IN LIGHT OF THE CURRENT SAD SITUATION OF TRENTON'S FINEST.

1897: PRIDE IN THE TRENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT

While searching for material for a future post on Trenton Patrolman John Zenker, I came across this interesting article that is an eye opener in this year of 2010 as our local men in blue are victims of budget cuts resulting in many layoffs. With all the bad guys roaming the streets, we all pray that some sanity will come back to the powers that be and money be found to fund a department that should NEVER be defunded.

1893: THE NEW AND IMPROVED "P-2" TRENTON POLICE STATION

That old building served the citizens of Chambersburg very well during its heyday. The building is still on South Broad Street near Cass Street. It was the headquarters of some of Trenton's Finest over all those years until the early 1960's (?) when the building was evacuated by the Trenton P.D.

1938: MORE OF BEAT PATROLMAN STANLEY CHORAZY'S NOTEBOOK

This is a page from officer Stan Chorazy's "beat notebook." The family name of the juvenile has been redacted for obvious reasons. There will be more Charazy page extracts in future posts. Stanley's entries provide a fascinating insight to the city of Trenton as it was in the post depression years. Below is a comment I received from Jim Chorazy.

JIM WROTE:

Patrolman Chorazy was my uncle Stanley Chorazy. Stanley was the oldest of the 5 Chorazy brothers (& 1 sister).. My dad, Joseph, was in the middle & the only one that strayed far from home (to Oregon via the CCCs & later married in Oregon). Dad's sister married and had a son, Joseph R. Fink (b. 1940). Dr. J. R. Fink retires next month as the president of Dominican College of California (San Rafael). Stanley was the only one of the Chorazy brothers who wasn't in the military in WW2. I was in the Army in the Fulda Gap in Germany for the October 1962 Crisis.

1902: TRENTON POLICE: "WHAT IS A 'YEGG'?"

This is a soon-to-be 100year old article that gives a number of revealing and interesting insights to the history of the Trenton Police Department of a century ago. These kinds of articles are particularly interesting when 100 years later we witness the sad state of Trenton's financial and social problems.

Anonymous said...

Did you ask this once before? For some reason I remember finding that it was traced to the name of an actual culprit and or, there may be a reference to this in the Pinkerton's history? Skip So, the answer would be that it became for a short while slang for a burglar or thief, extracted from a real name?

Thursday, August 04, 2011

I may have asked about the source of the "Yegg" word some time ago, Skip; I often wondered about that term which I have heard numerous times over the years. As to the Pinkerton connection, I would have to research that and will at some time, or perhaps a visitor can Google and answer.

Tom Glover

1936: TRENTON POLICE NEW "FIX-PROOF" SUMMONS

Anonymous said...

Tpm - Just a thought - the dark blue line covering the post under the polie ticket makes the wording almost illegible. Just a thought... Lakeside Girl

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Tom Glover said...

THANKS FOR THE OBSERVATION, ELEANOR. THERE IS A YET-TO-BE-FOUND GLITCH IN THIS POST THAT WILL NOT ALLOW ME TO CAPTION WITH A WHITE BACKGROUND. I TRIED NUMEROUS TIMES TO RECTIFY THE SITUATION, BUT TO NO AVAIL: BLUE BACKGROUND WITH BLACK TEXT. THE "BACKGROUND COLOR" CHOICE IN THE MENU WILL NOT REMOVE THE BLUE, EVEN AS I CHOOSE A WHITE BACKGROUND. BOTTOM LINE: I REMOVED THE CAPTION. THE TITLE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENT.

1937: NOW THIS IS A DEFINITE MONEY SAVER!

Wow, who would have believed it? Loading their own cartridges! From the "POLICE-TRENTON" folder, this very intriguing, interesting and rare news photo of  Mr. Roy Denson turning out bullets for the Trenton Police Department. A fascinating bit of history that I dare say many area residents never knew, and indeed, the current members of the Trenton Police Department are aware of.

1897: TRENTON POLICE FORCE

I am continually adding files to the hefty "POLICE-TRENTON" AND "POLICE-HAMILTON" folders in the Hamilton Township Public Library Local History Collection. Among the stack of "hard copy" in the library vertical file is the interesting article above detailing the ethnic makeup of the 1897 Trenton Police Department.

Tom:
You never cease to amaze me with the information you dig up, and disseminate through this column.
I grew up next to Police Chief McChesney's family on South Warren St. next to the William Trent house. I did not know the chief, but his lovely wife was a kind and dear neighbor back in the 40's.
He had two son's Wallace who was a giant of man @ 6'7",and Graham a mere runt at 6'4". They often said they took after the father, who struck an imposing figure in his uniform. Once again it has happened. I'm in Louisville this week, and prior to leaving Virginia, I mentioned the McChesney's and here you publish an article.

Warm Regards From The Colonel

Mike Kuzma

1886: GUNS PROHIBITED FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 15!

"...under the age of fifteen years..?"

An interesting comment from Skipper, telling of our innocent years. He wrote:

I am not sure how long that legislation was in effect but I remember shooting at a very young age. In my mid teens my pal and I would walk down the streets of Trenton on our way to the "wood lots" across the border in Ewing where we hunted. Never a complaint from a neighbor, the breech being open and chamber empty and never being stopped by an officer.Tom, it is not imagination when we discuss how much things were better or the world more trusting then. It was.Can you remotely think of any car dealer leaving the keys in the cars at night and over the weekends? Well, McCafferty and the other dealers along South Broad Street sure did. Cold winter evenings would find us warming up a car to sit in while we munched those treats from that newly opened McDonald's place on Broad. Listen to the radio and don't leave a mess but pretending we were cool "driving" and who would ever dare do that today?At 12 I begged for my first gun but Mom would not hear of it. Dad was on the fence but in order to keep some sense of balance and harmony, Christmas morning found me taking the bow off my first genuine shotgun. A late 1800's flintlock "fowling piece" and she is a real beauty. I imagine in her day she did real well too. The following year I got a spiffy (but used), J.C. Higgins pump, not the Ithaca Featherweight that I used to visit at Lombardo's Capital Sporting Goods.Skipper

Sunday, July 10, 2011

1905: TRENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT CAPTAIN JOHN J. CLEARY

When the Trenton Police Department's new history book arrives later this summer, you will undoubted read about Captain Cleary, along with contemporary photographs. This is just one of the hundreds of files in the Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History Collection. More to come.

1971: MORE ON TRENTON "BEAT" PATROLMAN STANLEY CHORAZY

Once upon a time police in Trenton and other cities walked a "beat." The officer was assigned to a given boundary within the city, and it was his responsibility to see that law and order prevailed in their area of coverage. The graphic above has the obit of Patrolman Stanley Chorazy, who diligently kept a written record of activities during a given shift. On the right is a scan of a little pocket note pad in my collection, wherein officer Chorazy detailed events that required his attention. It is speculation on my part that the beat patrol officer was rendered obsolete as the streets became more dangerous for a lone officer walking on dangerous streets.

Ralph Lucarella said...

....WE HAD PATROLMAN SPARKS TO CONTEND WITH IN VILLA PARK DURING THE 1930S. HE WAS VERY FAIR AND KNEW MOST OF THE PEOPLE BY NAME. IN MANY CASES HE WOULD TAKE YOU HOME AND LET YOUR PARENTS HANDLE THE SITUATION. WE KIDS KNEW WE WERE IN FOR IT IF THAT HAPPENED. THE STREETS WERE MUCH SAFER WHILE THEY HAD PATROLMEN ON THE BEAT. BEST REGARDS./

Mike Kuzma said...

I knew, and respected Stan Chorazy as a man, and a cop. He was fair, thorough and honest. The Beat Cop in my South Trenton neighborhood was "Big Vince Morrison" He had to stand 6'6" and his mere presence walking the street, kept the "restless" in line. One of the finest cops ever to walk a beat, and the most honest; was Johnny Prihoda. I met John when he came on the force after WWII in the mid 40's. He was thought of so highly, that Mayor Art Holland appointed him Chief of Police. Regards Mike Kuzma

Monday, October 04, 2010

1934: TRENTON POLICE ASSIGNED TO TRENTON PARK AREAS

"Rowdyism;" How the picture has changed over the years! Today, rowdyism has evolved into near anarchy in Camden, Newark, Trenton, and other New Jersey cities and is even infecting many suburban areas. The crime situation in 21st century America has altered the lifestyle of many citizens, not the least of which is the local police departments. The officers above were assigned to the many parks in the Trenton area, with the goal being to contain "rowdyism."

1934: THE PRE-1912 TRENTON POLICE STEAM PATROL WAGON

The original photo published in John Cleary's 1934 "TRENTON IN BYGONE DAYS" column was a washed out photo. I tried my hand at hand-coloring it, and not spending as much time on the process as I could have, I at least feel it is better than the gray-scale original.

1931: TRENTON POLICE BASKETBALL TEAM

Many familiar names in the photos above. Louis Neese was a Trenton Police legend. Coach Thiel married my Uncle's sister, Phoebe Gaudette. It is interesting to note the any extracurricular activities the Trenton Police had back in the day.