Portland Police to 1870
by Jim Huff Former Director, Portland Police Museum
The Portland Police Bureau has its beginnings as a law enforcement presence in 1851 with a single officer and changed to a full time
force beginning in 1870.
In December of 1850, 145 citizens of Portland presented a petition to the Territorial Assembly in Salem, requesting to incorporate as a city. In a quick response, on January 23, 1851 the State Legislature made Portland the second incorporated city in Oregon Territory (the first was Oregon City). City founders met on April 14, 1851, to form a local government. They voted in the city officials, including the Mayor, Council members
and a City Marshal - the first law enforcement officer for the city. Statehood was still eight years away. More about the Marshals later, but they weren’t the first law enforcement presence in Portland.
Before the arrival of the Americans, several tribes had large settlements in the general area of Portland, including the Multnomah and the
Atflati Kalapuya tribes. European and Asian explorers found the area on brief visits, but didn’t settle until the 1820s when the Hudson Bay Company established Fort Vancouver. Neither the Native Americans nor the HBC employees appear to have settled on the land first surveyed for the city of Portland, except as seasonal or short term occupations. In fact, the area was nicknamed “the clearing” and used as a rest area for trips on the Willamette River.
The first jail in the northwest was built inside Fort Vancouver. While the HBC had an influence over the entire area, they usually extended authority over just their own citizens and employees, with punishments ranging from jail time to flogging or transport to Canadian courts for more serious crimes.
The first known resident of the Portland area was Etienne Lucier, an ex-employee of the Hudson Bay Company. In 1829 he built a cabin around the area at the east end of the Morrison Bridge. He didn’t stay very long and soon re-located to the French Prairie area where he became an American
citizen in 1851 and died in 1853.
The first resident of the Portland downtown area was a former British sailor and another ex-employee of the Hudson Bay Company, William Johnson. In 1842 Johnson built a cabin around the present area of the southern junction of I-5 and I-405, where he lived with his wife and two children.
The global economic crisis of 1837 and a rapidly growing east coast population began to push people to the west and on to Oregon. Most of these people settled south of the Columbia River along the Willamette. In early 1841 a small group of settlers began meeting at the small town called Champoeg. On their second meeting, on February 18, 1841 (with both Etienne Lucier and William Johnson in attendance) they elected a Constitutional Committee, installed Ira Babcock as Supreme Judge, William Johnson the High Sheriff, and appointed three Constables. It was still two years from the 1843 vote at Champoeg to form a formal government, and five years from the 1846 treaty with Britain that created the Oregon Territory and established what is now the current border with Canada.
William Johnson’s work as the High Sheriff hasn’t survived the years, but we can guess that since he was the only permanent resident of
Portland at the time, his enforcement duties were light. He was replaced in 1843 by Joseph Meek, who was appointed the Sheriff of the Oregon Country and later he became the Territorial Marshal. In 1846, Johnson was indicted for retailing and trading alcohol, but his punishment is unknown. By the time other people began building in the Portland area, the Johnson family had moved away and started a sawmill operation on what is now Johnson Creek.
In 1851, Portland was the largest town in the northwest and the second in the Territory to incorporate (the first was Oregon City). Its boundaries were the Willamette River, Stark, Fifth and Jefferson streets - with a fir forest up to the city limits. Within these boundaries were almost 1,000 people with roughly six males to each female and nearly 90% in their twenties. There were only two buildings taller than one story, most of the buildings were made of wood, several built with canvas, but the town had: general stores, groceries, a flour mill, drugstore and ships that sold goods right from the wharfs. It also had its share of murder, theft and alcohol related incidents.
The first law enforcement officer for the new town of Portland was City Marshal Hiram Wilbur, who served less than three months. He was hired at the first meeting of the city’s Common Council after seven votes, so some controversy existed over his selection. Nothing survives about Wilbur and it appears that by at least 1863 he no longer lived in Portland. A succession of Marshals followed until 1870, at first hired and fired according
to the political party in control, then after 1854 the job was filled through a city election. For instance, the second City Marshal was William Higgins, serving until 1853, again in 1854, and then again from 1856-1857. Higgins was originally from Rhode Island, had first visited the area by ship in 1843 when he met William Johnson. He lived in Portland from 1850 to his death in 1908, primarily working as a carpenter and contractor.
The Marshals did not receive a normal paycheck, but were paid in "fees he collected for specific services (such as) arrests, court appearances,
maintaining street lamps, tax assessment and dog control." The first city ordinances, passed in April of 1851, dealt with removal of “rubbish or filth of any kind whatever” from houses, yards or other places. The next ordinances passed made it illegal to: “discharge any firearm within the limits of the city,” driving (a horse or wagon) “at a furious pace,” and being “found drunk, rioting or in any way disturbing the peace.” Each crime carried a fine of $5 for the first offense and $10 for each subsequent one. In October, gambling became illegal with a sizeable fine of $100 and up to 30 days in jail. This was at a time when $2 could buy over 100 pounds of flour, eggs for 10 cents a dozen and you could buy three turkeys for a dollar.
Almost immediately, the need for a jail became apparent, and was the first city building built. It was located at the corner of SW 6th Avenue and Washington and was a 16 by 25 feet log cabin. The law enforcement office, of probably simple means, was located in the building. It wasn’t the most secure building and the Marshal would go home at night, so occasionally friends would break in and free an inmate. The jail burned down in 1854 and was replaced with a two story building made of stone and timber at the same location. The story goes that the first jail was in such bad shape that inmates started the fire. That same year, 1954, Multnomah County was created and William Millen appointed the first Sheriff.
As a port town, there was a regular influx of temporary residents who didn’t always behave; along with a number of saloons and the inevitable alcohol related problems. Not all the issues were all that serious. An old cannon had been placed on the city docks and was fired when a large commercial ship appeared on the river. A resident recalled that: “Sometimes in the middle of the night some waggish youths would fire this old gun by way of a joke, which made the fathers very angry indeed and they called upon the Marshal to administer punishment.”
In 1853 the Marshal was charged with ensuring that those suffering from smallpox were taken to a quarantine house or “pest house”, and
the Marshal was subject to a fine if he failed to relocate them. This was a duty, along with lighting and maintaining city lamps and cleaning the City
Council rooms that continued for many years.
Beginning in 1856, deputies and special policemen could be hired to assist the Marshal, to “stand watch” overnight, and during elections. Enforcement tended to vigorously support the incumbent party with a presence at the polling stations and rounding up voters. The practice of adding to the police force during and just after elections would continue for many years.
Because of the budget savings, the need for a full-time, salaried police organization was first discussed by the city council in 1857. The city decided that a force of a Marshal, two policemen and several special police, all paid through billing for services and often working part-time, did not suit a growing community - and if the officers were busy, their bills could be very large. The idea was introduced and tabled over the next thirteen years.
In 1860 the Mayor presented concerns about “unhealthy conditions in the City Jail” and that he supported the idea of a small force of night
watchmen. Some repairs were made to the jail, but problems with escaping and deplorable conditions caused the Marshal to often rely on using the county jail. Portland was steadily growing and the population had now reached nearly 3,000 people and by 1863 there were 85 brick
buildings in the business district. (Two fires in the early 1850s spurred the use of flame resistant buildings.) Stage roads had been completed to
Corvallis, Jacksonville and a plank road connected Portland to Hillsboro. A daily stage coach service was begun between Portland and Sacramento.
In April of 1862, Marshal Grooms and his deputies were directed by the Common Council to “wear some suitable emblem or badge to designate their
official character.” He was also to raise the flag at the Public Square each Sunday. Law Enforcement in Portland then comprised of the Marshal, a deputy and three “special or private watchmen paid by private parties whose duty it is to watch the property of those who pay them to do so, and none others.” This was an interesting practice of businesses paying the city to provide special officers. Sometimes this meant that if one of these businesses was into gambling, bootlegging alcohol and/or other vices, the Special Officer would more than likely look the other way. These officers were alternately called “special deputies, night spies or detectives, and door rattlers.”
What was considered a crime in the 1860s was much different than today. In July of 1862, a young man was arrested “...for disorderly and indecent conduct in stripping himself and running a foot race upon the public square...” He was arrested by the Deputy City Marshal, taken before the City
Recorder and fined $10 dollars. Unable to pay, he was jailed for four days.
In 1867 charges were brought against Mrs. E. M. Bath for once again “employing waiter girls in her saloon on Front Street” because it was illegal for women to be working in a bar without a license. At the same time, two people were in court for engaging in a “foul-mouthed set-to.” In other words, along with causing a disturbance, it was illegal to loudly swear in public.
Throughout the 1860s, prisoners were put to work in the city, complete with striped clothing and some fitted with a ball and chain.
On August 29, 1867, Special Officer Thomas O’Connor is shot by a man he attempted to arrest. The man had been drinking and decided to walk down
First Avenue, shooting his pistol. O’Connor and fellow special policeman Townsend decided that the man had emptied his gun and moved in to arrest him. During the ensuing struggle, the man shot O’Connor in the thigh, breaking his leg. Townsend then shot the assailant. Both victims die a few days later, the assailant in jail and the officer at his brother’s hotel. O’Connor is the first Portland law enforcement officer to die in the line of
duty.
There wasn’t a hospital in Portland, so it was common practice to transport injured people to a home, hotel or the jail. The jail was a sorry
building now located at Second and Morrison. It was described as a place that almost anyone could get out of, so it was mainly used to house drunks with serious cases taken to the county jail.
In the late 1860s the railroad arrived to add to the rapidly growing river and land transportation options. The population boomed to over 8,000 people by 1870. The Portland Street Railway Company operated the first downtown horse car lines along SW First in 1871, the first of many public transportation lines. Ferries were used to cross the rivers because the first bridge, the Morrison, wouldn’t be built until 1887. The town was growing and changing.
1870 began with a plea by the Mayor to increase the police force and to revise the police ordinances “which are in a crude state.” In June, several shootings and incidents in town led the Mayor to state that “a force of three men is not enough for a city of ten thousand inhabitants.” In response, the force was increased to six, along with a temporary infusion of twelve special policemen - four in each ward and duties described for day and night
patrol.
Portland in 1870 has a population of nearly ten thousand people. Ten percent were Chinese. People had been lured by the possibility of finding gold in eastern Oregon in the early 1860s, with many coming to Portland after the mining played out. The little city now rivaled San Francisco and Victoria as a port for trade with China and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). The residents held all types of occupations, including: physician (21), tailor (9), dress maker (16), newspaper publisher (8), grocer (32), dry goods (36), boot& shoe maker (14), barber (11), hotel (14), accountant (49), attorney (44), coffee & oyster saloon (3) and liquor sales (71).
At the same time there was the issue of competing prosecution between the city on one side and the County and State on the other. Both claimed jurisdiction and that they had authority over city ordinances and cases were tried by both sides. To add to the problem, Marshal Saunders, his deputies and policemen were paid by both parties. In response, the city passed an ordinance compelling their officers to take all their cases to the City Recorder and that the City Attorney should be present at all cases at the Police Court (on Front and Alder).
The whole matter of competing law enforcement efforts, along with a citizen petition pushing for resolution was taken up by the State
Legislature and decided in the City’s favor in late summer of 1870. The State mandated the formation of a Police Commission, appointed by the
Governor rather than by the City Council.
At some point in mid-September, City Marshal Saunders drafts the first Police Rules and Regulations. Two months later he is replaced by the new
Chief of Police, but his Rules & Regulations survived well into the next administration.
On November 2 and 3, 1870, the newly formed board of Police Commissioners created the Metropolitan Police Force and abolished the office of
City Marshal. The first Chief was James Lappeus and under him was a Captain, six Policemen and three Special Policemen. In keeping with the
politics of the day, all officers were Democrats and political affiliation determined the makeup of the department for many years. (It didn’t hurt that
Lappeus was also part-owner in the largest saloon and theatre in town.) Except for the Specials, they were salaried employees and paid the monthly amount of $125 for the Chief, $100 for Captain and $90 for the Policemen. These amounts changed very little over the next fifty years, sometimes
being reduced, but were roughly half the pay under the old Marshal system. The Specials would continue to be paid by private businesses.
So who were these first full-time police officers hired in November of 1870?
Chief:
James Lappeus. He came to the west coast in 1846 as part of the volunteer New York regiment to “liberate” California from Mexico. He stayed and became a merchant at Sutter’s Fort during the gold rush. In 1852 he arrived in Portland. First a farmer, then a part owner of the largest saloon & theatre in town, the Oro Fino. He was twice elected to be a City Marshal and was twice selected as the Chief of Police, both offices he held for many successful years. He died in Portland in 1894.
Captain:
Joseph Wiley. Originally from Wisconsin, he came to Portland in 1852 at the age of seven. In 1868 he was Multnomah County School Superintendent, and was also a carpenter, Justice of the Peace, served several years with the Metropolitan Police Force, was a Captain in the Emmett Guard (early Oregon State Guard), volunteer fireman, city councilman and was the Grand Marshal of the 1875 July 4th parade. He died in Portland in 1894.
Policemen:
William Ward. Born in Illinois, in 1860 he was a farmer in Polk County and then by June of 1870 was a county jailer in Portland. He served as a patrolman working in the city center from November, 1870 to March 7, 1872, when he resigned and disappeared from the public record.
Thomas Burke. A native of County Kerry, Ireland, he arrived in Portland in 1852 and built a house up next to the woods on the east side of Seventh
Street between Salmon and Main streets. He and his wife Mary were celebrated landscapers and grew some of the first roses in Portland. He joined the force at the age of 53 and served until 1877, dying two years later, having suffered for a time from “softening of the brain.”
J. W. Kelly. For many years the custom was to use initials for the first and middle names, but the best guess is that his first name was James. We do know that he came from Kentucky and was 34 when he joined the police force. He was on the force for nine years, made Captain and was removed by a unanimous Commission vote “for the reason that the board prefer some other person in his place.” He appears to have moved out of Portland sometime after 1879.
Daniel Norton. From Ireland, he was a laborer until he joined the force at the age of 40. During his second month, he became the first officer to be disciplined when he was suspended for two weeks and fined $20 for being intoxicated, using improper language and leaving his post before the end of his watch. In 1871 he was charged for striking a resistant arrestee and then the arrestee’s brother for interfering. The case went to trial and in 1874 he was found not guilty. He retired in 1874 and died in Portland sometime in the 1880s.
D. Jacobi. Originally spelled Jacoby, David was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1825 and immigrated to New York in 1842. He was employed as the City Marshal from 1867 to 1868 and in the summer of 1870 he was a bookkeeper in Portland with a family of eight. He was let go in October
of 1871, but reappears in the newspaper in 1874 along with O. D. Buck, arresting two men on suspicion of robbery. Jacobi and Buck were described as being “engaged in general detective business” and probably worked for the Wells Fargo Bank. Soon after, he and his family moved to San
Francisco.
A. B. Brannon. Absalom Brannon came to Portland in the early 1860s from Georgia. He was involved with Portland law enforcement for over 30 years, serving first under the Marshal system, then fifteen years with the Police Force (making Captain) and 12 years as a Special Officer. He was also a volunteer fireman. After living for several years in Long Beach, Washington, he died in Portland in 1905.
Specials:
Bernard “Barney” O’Hara (patrolled between Oak and Alder). Originally from Ireland, he came to New York City in 1854 at the age of 18. After a year he headed to the west coast via steamers, overland passage of Panama and then to San Francisco. In the fall of 1857 he arrived in Portland. He worked for the Portland Police for about 10 years, but his efforts as a contractor and in real estate allowed him to retire early and become a philanthropist. He died in Portland in 1908.
M. F. Sheehan (patrolled north of Oak). Came from Massachusetts where he had been a Civil War Veteran for the Union and may have been wounded in action. He worked as a Special Officer from August, 1870 to December, 1879 when he was let go for just a short while because he shows up as a Special Officer later in 1880 and on to at least 1896. In 1908 he was a guard at the State Penitentiary in Salem.
James M. McCoy (patrolled between Alder and Yamhill). From South Carolina, he was 35 in 1870, first showing up in Benton County in 1860.
He continued to work for the Police Force for nine years and was sometimes sent out of town to bring back prisoners. On November 18, 1879 he was let go because he “failed to qualify on account of sickness.” He was visiting his brother in San Francisco, took ill, and five days later he died.
Nov 22, 1870 an unnamed special detective policeman is appointed. It isn’t mentioned what the person’s duties were, but typically these “detectives” were used to patrol voting stations to prevent double voting or “repeating.” The detectives were also used to enforce city tax laws such as those relating to liquor and an undercover operative was probably the duty of this person. The first “real” detective was hired in 1879.
Also in 1870 Special Policeman Lawrence was appointed to enforce animal control ordinances, primarily for dog and swine control, and the humane
treatment of horse and cattle. By this time the animal pound was open and a humane officer became a fixture in Portland.
In December of 1870, a new rule prohibited officers from talking (visiting) with anyone - except about police business, and especially not to
talk to reporters. This was probably in response to a less than generous article about the new police force, but the commissioners wound up quickly backpedaling on the rule. Other new rules had the officers changing their beats every two months and preparing a monthly written report about their work or any matters that they were aware of that pertained to the force; either on or off duty. The officers worked in three districts, covering four “watches” and were on six hours, and then off for twelve. Days off were rare, and even into the 1900s discussions continued over giving officers one to four days off a month.
In early 1871 the Chief was directed to procure two dozen pairs of the “best handcuffs.” Officers still had to pay for their badge, gun, club, and uniform - most of the equipment that they carried. One of the less expensive means of arresting was the use of the “twister” chain. This was a short chain with T handles that was wrapped around the arrestee’s wrist or wrists.
For 1870 and 1871, the headquarters for the Metropolitan Police Force was in the former Council rooms at the Corbett Building on First Street.
In July of 1872 the new Police Headquarters was dedicated. It was located at the corner of Second and Oak (where the 1911 building now stands). It was a three story brick building that housed offices, jail for men and women (including dark rooms for “turbulent inmates”), courtrooms and commission offices. The days of working out of the jail, home, council and commission offices, rented office space and even the Chief’s big saloon were finally over.
The 1872 Police Building at 2nd and
Oak.
A new uniform and badge appeared in November of 1872 with the introduction of a long, dark blue coat, vest, pantaloons, a black hat of uniform style with cord & tassels and a seven pointed star. The Police Commission had directed the Chief "…to procure 27 silver stars, for the use of the Police Force, of the same description as those used by the San Francisco Police Department, suitably numbered and inscribed." Thomas
Burke was given badge number one and Portland had a full-time, uniformed police force.
Law enforcement has been an integral part of Portland since the first days of its founding; growing and changing along with the young city.
by Jim Huff Former Director, Portland Police Museum
The Portland Police Bureau has its beginnings as a law enforcement presence in 1851 with a single officer and changed to a full time
force beginning in 1870.
In December of 1850, 145 citizens of Portland presented a petition to the Territorial Assembly in Salem, requesting to incorporate as a city. In a quick response, on January 23, 1851 the State Legislature made Portland the second incorporated city in Oregon Territory (the first was Oregon City). City founders met on April 14, 1851, to form a local government. They voted in the city officials, including the Mayor, Council members
and a City Marshal - the first law enforcement officer for the city. Statehood was still eight years away. More about the Marshals later, but they weren’t the first law enforcement presence in Portland.
Before the arrival of the Americans, several tribes had large settlements in the general area of Portland, including the Multnomah and the
Atflati Kalapuya tribes. European and Asian explorers found the area on brief visits, but didn’t settle until the 1820s when the Hudson Bay Company established Fort Vancouver. Neither the Native Americans nor the HBC employees appear to have settled on the land first surveyed for the city of Portland, except as seasonal or short term occupations. In fact, the area was nicknamed “the clearing” and used as a rest area for trips on the Willamette River.
The first jail in the northwest was built inside Fort Vancouver. While the HBC had an influence over the entire area, they usually extended authority over just their own citizens and employees, with punishments ranging from jail time to flogging or transport to Canadian courts for more serious crimes.
The first known resident of the Portland area was Etienne Lucier, an ex-employee of the Hudson Bay Company. In 1829 he built a cabin around the area at the east end of the Morrison Bridge. He didn’t stay very long and soon re-located to the French Prairie area where he became an American
citizen in 1851 and died in 1853.
The first resident of the Portland downtown area was a former British sailor and another ex-employee of the Hudson Bay Company, William Johnson. In 1842 Johnson built a cabin around the present area of the southern junction of I-5 and I-405, where he lived with his wife and two children.
The global economic crisis of 1837 and a rapidly growing east coast population began to push people to the west and on to Oregon. Most of these people settled south of the Columbia River along the Willamette. In early 1841 a small group of settlers began meeting at the small town called Champoeg. On their second meeting, on February 18, 1841 (with both Etienne Lucier and William Johnson in attendance) they elected a Constitutional Committee, installed Ira Babcock as Supreme Judge, William Johnson the High Sheriff, and appointed three Constables. It was still two years from the 1843 vote at Champoeg to form a formal government, and five years from the 1846 treaty with Britain that created the Oregon Territory and established what is now the current border with Canada.
William Johnson’s work as the High Sheriff hasn’t survived the years, but we can guess that since he was the only permanent resident of
Portland at the time, his enforcement duties were light. He was replaced in 1843 by Joseph Meek, who was appointed the Sheriff of the Oregon Country and later he became the Territorial Marshal. In 1846, Johnson was indicted for retailing and trading alcohol, but his punishment is unknown. By the time other people began building in the Portland area, the Johnson family had moved away and started a sawmill operation on what is now Johnson Creek.
In 1851, Portland was the largest town in the northwest and the second in the Territory to incorporate (the first was Oregon City). Its boundaries were the Willamette River, Stark, Fifth and Jefferson streets - with a fir forest up to the city limits. Within these boundaries were almost 1,000 people with roughly six males to each female and nearly 90% in their twenties. There were only two buildings taller than one story, most of the buildings were made of wood, several built with canvas, but the town had: general stores, groceries, a flour mill, drugstore and ships that sold goods right from the wharfs. It also had its share of murder, theft and alcohol related incidents.
The first law enforcement officer for the new town of Portland was City Marshal Hiram Wilbur, who served less than three months. He was hired at the first meeting of the city’s Common Council after seven votes, so some controversy existed over his selection. Nothing survives about Wilbur and it appears that by at least 1863 he no longer lived in Portland. A succession of Marshals followed until 1870, at first hired and fired according
to the political party in control, then after 1854 the job was filled through a city election. For instance, the second City Marshal was William Higgins, serving until 1853, again in 1854, and then again from 1856-1857. Higgins was originally from Rhode Island, had first visited the area by ship in 1843 when he met William Johnson. He lived in Portland from 1850 to his death in 1908, primarily working as a carpenter and contractor.
The Marshals did not receive a normal paycheck, but were paid in "fees he collected for specific services (such as) arrests, court appearances,
maintaining street lamps, tax assessment and dog control." The first city ordinances, passed in April of 1851, dealt with removal of “rubbish or filth of any kind whatever” from houses, yards or other places. The next ordinances passed made it illegal to: “discharge any firearm within the limits of the city,” driving (a horse or wagon) “at a furious pace,” and being “found drunk, rioting or in any way disturbing the peace.” Each crime carried a fine of $5 for the first offense and $10 for each subsequent one. In October, gambling became illegal with a sizeable fine of $100 and up to 30 days in jail. This was at a time when $2 could buy over 100 pounds of flour, eggs for 10 cents a dozen and you could buy three turkeys for a dollar.
Almost immediately, the need for a jail became apparent, and was the first city building built. It was located at the corner of SW 6th Avenue and Washington and was a 16 by 25 feet log cabin. The law enforcement office, of probably simple means, was located in the building. It wasn’t the most secure building and the Marshal would go home at night, so occasionally friends would break in and free an inmate. The jail burned down in 1854 and was replaced with a two story building made of stone and timber at the same location. The story goes that the first jail was in such bad shape that inmates started the fire. That same year, 1954, Multnomah County was created and William Millen appointed the first Sheriff.
As a port town, there was a regular influx of temporary residents who didn’t always behave; along with a number of saloons and the inevitable alcohol related problems. Not all the issues were all that serious. An old cannon had been placed on the city docks and was fired when a large commercial ship appeared on the river. A resident recalled that: “Sometimes in the middle of the night some waggish youths would fire this old gun by way of a joke, which made the fathers very angry indeed and they called upon the Marshal to administer punishment.”
In 1853 the Marshal was charged with ensuring that those suffering from smallpox were taken to a quarantine house or “pest house”, and
the Marshal was subject to a fine if he failed to relocate them. This was a duty, along with lighting and maintaining city lamps and cleaning the City
Council rooms that continued for many years.
Beginning in 1856, deputies and special policemen could be hired to assist the Marshal, to “stand watch” overnight, and during elections. Enforcement tended to vigorously support the incumbent party with a presence at the polling stations and rounding up voters. The practice of adding to the police force during and just after elections would continue for many years.
Because of the budget savings, the need for a full-time, salaried police organization was first discussed by the city council in 1857. The city decided that a force of a Marshal, two policemen and several special police, all paid through billing for services and often working part-time, did not suit a growing community - and if the officers were busy, their bills could be very large. The idea was introduced and tabled over the next thirteen years.
In 1860 the Mayor presented concerns about “unhealthy conditions in the City Jail” and that he supported the idea of a small force of night
watchmen. Some repairs were made to the jail, but problems with escaping and deplorable conditions caused the Marshal to often rely on using the county jail. Portland was steadily growing and the population had now reached nearly 3,000 people and by 1863 there were 85 brick
buildings in the business district. (Two fires in the early 1850s spurred the use of flame resistant buildings.) Stage roads had been completed to
Corvallis, Jacksonville and a plank road connected Portland to Hillsboro. A daily stage coach service was begun between Portland and Sacramento.
In April of 1862, Marshal Grooms and his deputies were directed by the Common Council to “wear some suitable emblem or badge to designate their
official character.” He was also to raise the flag at the Public Square each Sunday. Law Enforcement in Portland then comprised of the Marshal, a deputy and three “special or private watchmen paid by private parties whose duty it is to watch the property of those who pay them to do so, and none others.” This was an interesting practice of businesses paying the city to provide special officers. Sometimes this meant that if one of these businesses was into gambling, bootlegging alcohol and/or other vices, the Special Officer would more than likely look the other way. These officers were alternately called “special deputies, night spies or detectives, and door rattlers.”
What was considered a crime in the 1860s was much different than today. In July of 1862, a young man was arrested “...for disorderly and indecent conduct in stripping himself and running a foot race upon the public square...” He was arrested by the Deputy City Marshal, taken before the City
Recorder and fined $10 dollars. Unable to pay, he was jailed for four days.
In 1867 charges were brought against Mrs. E. M. Bath for once again “employing waiter girls in her saloon on Front Street” because it was illegal for women to be working in a bar without a license. At the same time, two people were in court for engaging in a “foul-mouthed set-to.” In other words, along with causing a disturbance, it was illegal to loudly swear in public.
Throughout the 1860s, prisoners were put to work in the city, complete with striped clothing and some fitted with a ball and chain.
On August 29, 1867, Special Officer Thomas O’Connor is shot by a man he attempted to arrest. The man had been drinking and decided to walk down
First Avenue, shooting his pistol. O’Connor and fellow special policeman Townsend decided that the man had emptied his gun and moved in to arrest him. During the ensuing struggle, the man shot O’Connor in the thigh, breaking his leg. Townsend then shot the assailant. Both victims die a few days later, the assailant in jail and the officer at his brother’s hotel. O’Connor is the first Portland law enforcement officer to die in the line of
duty.
There wasn’t a hospital in Portland, so it was common practice to transport injured people to a home, hotel or the jail. The jail was a sorry
building now located at Second and Morrison. It was described as a place that almost anyone could get out of, so it was mainly used to house drunks with serious cases taken to the county jail.
In the late 1860s the railroad arrived to add to the rapidly growing river and land transportation options. The population boomed to over 8,000 people by 1870. The Portland Street Railway Company operated the first downtown horse car lines along SW First in 1871, the first of many public transportation lines. Ferries were used to cross the rivers because the first bridge, the Morrison, wouldn’t be built until 1887. The town was growing and changing.
1870 began with a plea by the Mayor to increase the police force and to revise the police ordinances “which are in a crude state.” In June, several shootings and incidents in town led the Mayor to state that “a force of three men is not enough for a city of ten thousand inhabitants.” In response, the force was increased to six, along with a temporary infusion of twelve special policemen - four in each ward and duties described for day and night
patrol.
Portland in 1870 has a population of nearly ten thousand people. Ten percent were Chinese. People had been lured by the possibility of finding gold in eastern Oregon in the early 1860s, with many coming to Portland after the mining played out. The little city now rivaled San Francisco and Victoria as a port for trade with China and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). The residents held all types of occupations, including: physician (21), tailor (9), dress maker (16), newspaper publisher (8), grocer (32), dry goods (36), boot& shoe maker (14), barber (11), hotel (14), accountant (49), attorney (44), coffee & oyster saloon (3) and liquor sales (71).
At the same time there was the issue of competing prosecution between the city on one side and the County and State on the other. Both claimed jurisdiction and that they had authority over city ordinances and cases were tried by both sides. To add to the problem, Marshal Saunders, his deputies and policemen were paid by both parties. In response, the city passed an ordinance compelling their officers to take all their cases to the City Recorder and that the City Attorney should be present at all cases at the Police Court (on Front and Alder).
The whole matter of competing law enforcement efforts, along with a citizen petition pushing for resolution was taken up by the State
Legislature and decided in the City’s favor in late summer of 1870. The State mandated the formation of a Police Commission, appointed by the
Governor rather than by the City Council.
At some point in mid-September, City Marshal Saunders drafts the first Police Rules and Regulations. Two months later he is replaced by the new
Chief of Police, but his Rules & Regulations survived well into the next administration.
On November 2 and 3, 1870, the newly formed board of Police Commissioners created the Metropolitan Police Force and abolished the office of
City Marshal. The first Chief was James Lappeus and under him was a Captain, six Policemen and three Special Policemen. In keeping with the
politics of the day, all officers were Democrats and political affiliation determined the makeup of the department for many years. (It didn’t hurt that
Lappeus was also part-owner in the largest saloon and theatre in town.) Except for the Specials, they were salaried employees and paid the monthly amount of $125 for the Chief, $100 for Captain and $90 for the Policemen. These amounts changed very little over the next fifty years, sometimes
being reduced, but were roughly half the pay under the old Marshal system. The Specials would continue to be paid by private businesses.
So who were these first full-time police officers hired in November of 1870?
Chief:
James Lappeus. He came to the west coast in 1846 as part of the volunteer New York regiment to “liberate” California from Mexico. He stayed and became a merchant at Sutter’s Fort during the gold rush. In 1852 he arrived in Portland. First a farmer, then a part owner of the largest saloon & theatre in town, the Oro Fino. He was twice elected to be a City Marshal and was twice selected as the Chief of Police, both offices he held for many successful years. He died in Portland in 1894.
Captain:
Joseph Wiley. Originally from Wisconsin, he came to Portland in 1852 at the age of seven. In 1868 he was Multnomah County School Superintendent, and was also a carpenter, Justice of the Peace, served several years with the Metropolitan Police Force, was a Captain in the Emmett Guard (early Oregon State Guard), volunteer fireman, city councilman and was the Grand Marshal of the 1875 July 4th parade. He died in Portland in 1894.
Policemen:
William Ward. Born in Illinois, in 1860 he was a farmer in Polk County and then by June of 1870 was a county jailer in Portland. He served as a patrolman working in the city center from November, 1870 to March 7, 1872, when he resigned and disappeared from the public record.
Thomas Burke. A native of County Kerry, Ireland, he arrived in Portland in 1852 and built a house up next to the woods on the east side of Seventh
Street between Salmon and Main streets. He and his wife Mary were celebrated landscapers and grew some of the first roses in Portland. He joined the force at the age of 53 and served until 1877, dying two years later, having suffered for a time from “softening of the brain.”
J. W. Kelly. For many years the custom was to use initials for the first and middle names, but the best guess is that his first name was James. We do know that he came from Kentucky and was 34 when he joined the police force. He was on the force for nine years, made Captain and was removed by a unanimous Commission vote “for the reason that the board prefer some other person in his place.” He appears to have moved out of Portland sometime after 1879.
Daniel Norton. From Ireland, he was a laborer until he joined the force at the age of 40. During his second month, he became the first officer to be disciplined when he was suspended for two weeks and fined $20 for being intoxicated, using improper language and leaving his post before the end of his watch. In 1871 he was charged for striking a resistant arrestee and then the arrestee’s brother for interfering. The case went to trial and in 1874 he was found not guilty. He retired in 1874 and died in Portland sometime in the 1880s.
D. Jacobi. Originally spelled Jacoby, David was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1825 and immigrated to New York in 1842. He was employed as the City Marshal from 1867 to 1868 and in the summer of 1870 he was a bookkeeper in Portland with a family of eight. He was let go in October
of 1871, but reappears in the newspaper in 1874 along with O. D. Buck, arresting two men on suspicion of robbery. Jacobi and Buck were described as being “engaged in general detective business” and probably worked for the Wells Fargo Bank. Soon after, he and his family moved to San
Francisco.
A. B. Brannon. Absalom Brannon came to Portland in the early 1860s from Georgia. He was involved with Portland law enforcement for over 30 years, serving first under the Marshal system, then fifteen years with the Police Force (making Captain) and 12 years as a Special Officer. He was also a volunteer fireman. After living for several years in Long Beach, Washington, he died in Portland in 1905.
Specials:
Bernard “Barney” O’Hara (patrolled between Oak and Alder). Originally from Ireland, he came to New York City in 1854 at the age of 18. After a year he headed to the west coast via steamers, overland passage of Panama and then to San Francisco. In the fall of 1857 he arrived in Portland. He worked for the Portland Police for about 10 years, but his efforts as a contractor and in real estate allowed him to retire early and become a philanthropist. He died in Portland in 1908.
M. F. Sheehan (patrolled north of Oak). Came from Massachusetts where he had been a Civil War Veteran for the Union and may have been wounded in action. He worked as a Special Officer from August, 1870 to December, 1879 when he was let go for just a short while because he shows up as a Special Officer later in 1880 and on to at least 1896. In 1908 he was a guard at the State Penitentiary in Salem.
James M. McCoy (patrolled between Alder and Yamhill). From South Carolina, he was 35 in 1870, first showing up in Benton County in 1860.
He continued to work for the Police Force for nine years and was sometimes sent out of town to bring back prisoners. On November 18, 1879 he was let go because he “failed to qualify on account of sickness.” He was visiting his brother in San Francisco, took ill, and five days later he died.
Nov 22, 1870 an unnamed special detective policeman is appointed. It isn’t mentioned what the person’s duties were, but typically these “detectives” were used to patrol voting stations to prevent double voting or “repeating.” The detectives were also used to enforce city tax laws such as those relating to liquor and an undercover operative was probably the duty of this person. The first “real” detective was hired in 1879.
Also in 1870 Special Policeman Lawrence was appointed to enforce animal control ordinances, primarily for dog and swine control, and the humane
treatment of horse and cattle. By this time the animal pound was open and a humane officer became a fixture in Portland.
In December of 1870, a new rule prohibited officers from talking (visiting) with anyone - except about police business, and especially not to
talk to reporters. This was probably in response to a less than generous article about the new police force, but the commissioners wound up quickly backpedaling on the rule. Other new rules had the officers changing their beats every two months and preparing a monthly written report about their work or any matters that they were aware of that pertained to the force; either on or off duty. The officers worked in three districts, covering four “watches” and were on six hours, and then off for twelve. Days off were rare, and even into the 1900s discussions continued over giving officers one to four days off a month.
In early 1871 the Chief was directed to procure two dozen pairs of the “best handcuffs.” Officers still had to pay for their badge, gun, club, and uniform - most of the equipment that they carried. One of the less expensive means of arresting was the use of the “twister” chain. This was a short chain with T handles that was wrapped around the arrestee’s wrist or wrists.
For 1870 and 1871, the headquarters for the Metropolitan Police Force was in the former Council rooms at the Corbett Building on First Street.
In July of 1872 the new Police Headquarters was dedicated. It was located at the corner of Second and Oak (where the 1911 building now stands). It was a three story brick building that housed offices, jail for men and women (including dark rooms for “turbulent inmates”), courtrooms and commission offices. The days of working out of the jail, home, council and commission offices, rented office space and even the Chief’s big saloon were finally over.
The 1872 Police Building at 2nd and
Oak.
A new uniform and badge appeared in November of 1872 with the introduction of a long, dark blue coat, vest, pantaloons, a black hat of uniform style with cord & tassels and a seven pointed star. The Police Commission had directed the Chief "…to procure 27 silver stars, for the use of the Police Force, of the same description as those used by the San Francisco Police Department, suitably numbered and inscribed." Thomas
Burke was given badge number one and Portland had a full-time, uniformed police force.
Law enforcement has been an integral part of Portland since the first days of its founding; growing and changing along with the young city.