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Creation of the Police Department
The Metropolitan Police System was authorized by President Abraham Lincoln who appointed Zanas C. Robbins, a prominent Washington DC businessman, its first Police Commissioner.
http://genealogytrails.com/washdc/lawsprisons/historyofpolicedept.html -
William B. Webb - First Police Chief
President Lincoln urged Zanas Robbins to visit the New York City and study their police system and methods. After returning to Washington, he began to put in place many of the ideas and practices he thought were applicable to the District. William B. Webb was appointed the first Chief of Police.
https://mpdc.dc.gov/node/226482 -
PD helps War Department's effort to find President Lincoln's assassin
In 1865, when President Lincoln was assassinated, the young MPD assisted the War Department's intensive investigations to locate the assassin, John Wilkes Booth. They went on to assist in other assassinations and presidential conflicts.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/04/lincoln-assassination-dc-police-blotter-record.html -
First Black Officers - Charles C. Tillman and Calvin C. Caruthers
These appointments were largely made because black cops were thought would walk easier through the streets of black neighborhoods. Attitudes toward black police officers on the part of the white public and the District press in general were almost always hostile.
https://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/02-2017/african_americans_in_law_enforcement.asp
https://police.colostate.edu/first-black-officers-in-law-enforcement/ -
First Women Employees
The first positions for women were appointed to serve as matrons, positions were solely for guarding female and child prisoners.
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3616&context=jclc -
First Women Officers Sworn In
Policewomen investigated causes of delinquency and recommended solutions using either legal action or social treatment.
https://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/03-2017/history_of_women_in_LE.html -
Period: to
Modernization
The size of PD grew, new technologies were introduced, more diversity were included, by present day: 1 in 4 people sworn in are women, nearly 70& of the PD is black, Hispanic or Asian.
https://wtop.com/dc/2021/07/dc-police-turn-to-ballistic-technology-to-quell-gun-violence/
Example of new technologies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTccyxxfPDQ -
Mt. Pleasant Riots
Officers approached a small group drinking in public on Mt. Pleasant Street, while making an arrest one of the men threatened the officer with a knife. The officer fired her weapon but as the shooting was being investigated, a rumor was spread that the man was shot while his hands were handcuffed. The crowd grew in size. Officers tried to get them to disperse but soon officers were being pelted with bottles and rocks.
https://www.dcpolicememorial.org/30th-anniversary-of-the-mt-pleasant-riots/ -
Sonya T. Proctor - 1st Woman to Head Force (Acting Police Chief)
"Assistant Police Chief Sonya T. Proctor, tapped yesterday to be acting chief while the D.C. financial control board conducts a national search, is a native Washingtonian who rose through the department to become the highest-ranking woman in the history of the force." -The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/dcpolice/stories/proctor26.htm