PRINCETON BOROUGH POLICE
DEPARTMENT
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT
The Princeton area
was settled in the late 1600's as farmers came to the area to cultivate the land along the
Stony Brook Creek and the Millstone River. Eventually a small market area was established
in what is now the central business district in Princeton. Originally called Stony Brook,
the town adopted the name of Princeton in 1724.
In 1775, the
Continental Congress recommended that military companies be formed in the various
townships. Out of this recommendation, the Committee of Safety was formed, which included
two members from Princeton. The Committee of Safety adopted measures to examine strollers
and vagabonds on the public roads who were stealing horses and robbing. They also took
measures to disarm and arrest extremely violent men.
Princeton was still
a small market town when it applied to the state legislature in 1813 to become
incorporated. The residents of the community saw the need for a more effective and direct
way to handle the problems of keeping law and order. Princeton was becoming widely known
as an educational center with The College of New Jersey (later known as Princeton University) within the town as well as the
Princeton Seminary, established in 1812.
One problem to deal
with at that time was that Princeton was a town divided, literally. The county line ran
down its main thoroughfare, Nassau Street. Somerset County was to the north and Middlesex
County was to the south. Mercer County was not established until 1838. Prior to its
incorporation, county sheriffs were officially responsible to maintain law and order. The
immediate cause for the townspeople to petition the legislature seeking a charter, was the
necessity for ordinances having jurisdiction on both sides of Nassau Street and for a
grant of police power to be exercised by a marshal and his deputies.
On February 11,
1813, the state legislature approved the request to have Princeton incorporated. On June
7,1813, the Mayor and Common Council of Princeton Borough passed an ordinance that
established the duties and compensation of the Marshal of Princeton. The first power that
it gave to the marshal was the power of a constable, which effectively empowered the
marshal to serve warrants on persons living in town. The duties carried out by the marshal
also included carrying out mandates of the Borough Council. The marshal, at the request of
the Mayor, would have persons remove obstructions from sidewalks and post notices of town
meetings.
Incorporated into
the marshal's duties was that of being the clerk of the market. In 1817, the office of
marshal and clerk of the market were combined. He was paid the salary of $30.00 per month.
The early years of
marshaling in Princeton were characterized by the marshal performing only limited law
enforcement functions. The marshal was basically a constable serving warrants and
performing services for the Mayor and Council. The Borough did provide the marshal with
some symbol of authority, maybe not a uniform but probably just a badge.
In 1847, the duties
of the marshal were officially outlined by ordinance. On November 12,1847, the Mayor and
Council ordained that the marshal would be elected by ballot by the members of the council
at its first meeting of the new year. The same process chose the assistant marshal.
Compensation to the
marshal including salary and fees could not exceed $600.00 per year. The marshal was now
responsible to respond to emergencies, arrest lawbreakers and those disrupting the peace
and protect the persons and property of the citizens of the Borough.
Princeton was a
midway point between two of the East's largest cities, New York and Philadelphia. As a
result, the town grew and conditions within the town called for more police service.
Public meetings were called for the purpose of forming a "society for pursuing and
detecting thieves", as well as passing an ordinance against "those who run fast horses
through town".
On May 16,1860, the
Mayor and Council enacted an ordinance that created "Night Police" in
Princeton. This ordinance gave the Mayor the power to select and appoint two competent
persons to act as a "Night Police Force". These officers were under the special
direction of the Mayor who also determined when the men were to be on duty. Their
responsibilities reflected the current problems facing the town at the time, namely,
public drunkenness. They were given the same powers as the marshal and were paid $ 100.00
per year. They were also assigned to disperse those assembled upon the sidewalks in the
evening who were obstructing passage, to enforce all ordinances, to protect private and
public property and to enforce the ordinance for suppressing intoxication and drunkenness.
On October 12,1886,
the Princeton Borough Police Department was officially established with the passage of an
ordinance titled "An Ordinance to Establish, Regulate and Control a Police
Force". This ordinance identified the marshal as the Chief of Police and four
policemen as being members of the police department.
The marshal and
policemen had to maintain higher standards than the general public. They were to refrain
from harsh, violent, coarse and profane language, could not drink or be drunk while on
duty, nor were they allowed to enter any place that sold liquor or attend any balls,
dances, etc., where liquor may be served. They were also required to wear a badge while on
duty.
During the period
from the 1890's until around 1910 there seemed to be little change within the department.
Few references could be found in either Council minutes or in the newspapers concerning
the police during that time. The most logical reason for this was that during this time
there was probably not much going on then. Princeton was still a small town that was
growing, and the activities that required the police mostly involved serving warrants and
arresting drunkards.
The decade beginning
in 1910 saw a great deal of growth within the Princeton Borough Police Department, not
only in structure but also in the duties that the police performed. In 1912, an ordinance
was established using military titles for the members of the force. The marshal was given
the title "Police Captain" and the first assistant marshal was given the title
"Lieutenant".
This 1912 ordinance
also stated that the Chief was to be at police headquarters whenever possible to assign
his men and start them promptly when they went on duty. This was the first reference to a
police headquarters that was found. Police headquarters at the time was presumably in the
town market house.
At this time, the
officers were expected to perform duties other than preserving the peace and arresting
violators. In addition to these functions, officers were responsible for reporting
broken streetlights, unsanitary conditions, conditions that were
detrimental to the public health, street and sidewalk obstructions, and also to see that
those creating the obstructions had proper permits.
The first ordinance
dealing with the new mode of transportation, the automobile, came in May of 1913. It
restricted the movement of motor vehicles, but the ordinance included horses and bicycles.
At this time in history the only mode of transportation belonging to the police department
were bicycles. This was documented in the Borough yearly report for 1912 that
showed a police department expenditure of $37.83 for repairs to police department
bicycles.
The police
department had not kept up with technology at this point, and chasing criminals
fleeing in autos presented
a particular problem. If an officer needed to use an automobile, he would have to either
commandeer a private auto or he would have to hire a cab. Police expenditures for cab hire
were also documented in the 1912 yearly report. In September of 1913, a
Princeton Packet newspaper article reported that Marshal Kilfoil and
Assistant Marshal Bovie got into a private car and went as far as Kingston looking for a
holdup man who fled town in an automobile.
In August of 1917,
the Borough Council decided to install telephones in the homes of those officers who did
not have them, and the Borough paid for the telephone service for those who did. When an
officer left the force, the Borough had the telephone removed from their residence.
In March of 1918,
the Borough installed a blinking light system made popular by August Vollmer. 1918
was well in advance of police radio cars and walkie-talkies. The police performed basic
foot patrol as well as some bicycle patrol at the time. In order for the foot patrol
officer to receive an assignment, he would have to call police headquarters using the
telephone of a business or resident. This blinking red light system was installed with a
police telephone (call box) at the comer of Nassau Street at Witherspoon Street. When the
red light above the phone was lit, the officer knew to call headquarters.
The 1920's marked
what could be considered an explosive decade for the police department especially in the
area of technology. In February of 1921, police telephone booths were installed at two
locations, Hodge Road at Library Place and Nassau Street at Murray Place. The installation
of these booths allowed an officer to receive an assignment by going to one of these phone
booth instead of trying to find a residence that had a telephone. Traffic booths were also
erected at about that same time on Nassau Street to protect officers who were directing
traffic from inclement weather.
The location of
police headquarters also changed in the 1920's from the market square to the rear of
"Van Morters Store" (102 Nassau Street). The police rented the rear of this
centrally located store signing a six-year lease.
January 14,1922
marked the first time the police department had an official police vehicle with the purchase of a 1922 Harley Davidson motorcycle. The department had to hire
a motorcycle policeman to operate it. This purchase was necessitated by the increase in
automobile traffic in the town and the use of the motorcycle was primarily to apprehend
speeders on the "new" concrete highway, now known as Nassau Street. The use of
the motorcycle worked so well that the department purchased another (and hired another
cycle policeman) on November 11,1922.
However successful
the motorcycles were, there was still a need for an automobile. The motorcycles were not
used by everybody, and in fact, went home with the motorcycle officers at the end of
their shifts. The department was accustomed to commandeering private vehicles to use in
pursuing fleeing criminals. However, an on August 25,1923, prompted the Borough Council to
purchase an auto. On that date, Chief Charles Meyers
had hailed another person's car in order to answer a call. On the way back into town, the
car in which Meyers was riding, became involved in an accident, leaving Meyers injured. It
took several minutes before an available car could be found to take Meyers to the
hospital. It was estimated that the police responded to at least fifteen calls a month and
that in these cases a taxi had to be located. A Princeton Packet article written
about the purchase of a police vehicle noted that "after taxi charges are added up, the amount
would have gone a long way toward the cost of a police ambulance." Not long after this
incident, a "police patrol ambulance" was purchased. This vehicle was a two door
Ford sedan.
In 1927, the salary
for Chief of Police was $2,500.00. A regular patrolman with at least four years on the
department earned $2,200.00. In addition to salary, a clothing allowance was paid
to the officers.
In 1935, Officer Edward Mahan was appointed chief. One of the first things that Mahan did was to hire William Roddy, a retired NYPD Lieutenant to train the department in the proper performance of their duties. This training given by Lieutenant Roddy was the first documented training of any kind in the department up to that time.
Former Police Chief Peter McCrohan
exemplified the attitudes of those attempting to get on the force in the 1930's. Chief
McCrohan was one of the candidates who took the police exam in 1935. He said that being a
policeman in Princeton at that time was considered a good job because there were few jobs
to be had at the time. People looked positively at the job security aspect of police work
especially during that time because of the depression. The depression did take its toll on
the Princeton police officer. Salaries dropped from $1,800 in 1927 to $1,200 in 1936-1939.
The "radio
patrol car" made it's first appearance in Princeton in 1936. Princeton was the second police department in
Mercer County to utilize the radio patrol car. When it was first put into use, it was met
with much skepticism by the townspeople. In fact, a publicity campaign was run by the
Borough to answer some of the questions and misconceptions that the residents had about
the use of the radio patrol car. To clear up the public misconceptions a booklet was
distributed to the citizens explaining the purpose of the police radio patrol and that the
police were not able to pick up "Amos and Andy" broadcasts with it.
Although the 20's
and 30's were explosive in the growth of the police department, the decade of the 1940's
was tame in comparison. World War II was going on and there seemed to be little emphasis
on the police department at the time. There were only two significant advances made in
technology other than the police headquarters being moved into "Old Borough
hall" on Stockton Street. In 1946 new radio equipment was installed at police
headquarters and in 1947 a Teletype system was installed.
Most police officers
patrolled on foot in the 1940's and the police were responsible for performing many
functions. Some of the services that the police provided included checking on building
and street permits, health code violations, street lights out, movie theater inspections,
conducting the dog census, vacant house inspections, taxi inspections, providing temporary
shelter for vagrants (lodgers), school crossings and church crossings.
World War II had a
serious impact on the police department. Several of the police officers left the ranks to
serve in the military. The loss of several men on a small department such as Princeton's
created a serious strain on the remaining members of the force. The remaining members in
fact petitioned the Borough Council on September 15,1942 stating that they would assume
extra duty to replace the men in the service. As compensation for their increased work
hours, the police officers received "bonuses" of $25 per month. Even with the
regular policemen working longer tours to provide the town with coverage, it still was not
enough and a "Police Auxiliary" was formed. The members of the Auxiliary
supplied personnel to the force as needed.
By the 1950's the
police department had grown to twenty-one officers with the organizational structure
consisting of one chief; one lieutenant, four sergeants, fourteen patrolmen and one
chanceman. The department had two or three radio patrol cars and one motorcycle in service
during the decade. Among the advances in technology that the department had taken
advantage of was a "drunko-meter" and an "electric speed meter", (one
of the first departments in the state to use it). Crime was not much of a factor in
Princeton in the 50's, and of greatest concern to the police department during that time
was traffic, occasional burglary sprees and loitering. An example of the activities the
department devoted much of its time is recorded in the 1953 and 1955 Annual Reports. In those reports, the department cited 10,432 traffic
violations in 1953 and in 1,873 in 1955. Also recorded were 3,386 hours spent on traffic
duty in 1953 compared to 3,670 hours in 1955. Obviously, traffic related matters and
providing service were primary functions of the department during the 1950's.
The 1960's were a
period of social unrest in the United States and Princeton had its problems as well.
Student riots in the mid-60's and the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) Vietnam War
demonstrations in the late 60's and early 70's required considerable attention from the
police force. The patrol officers as well as the staff personnel of the department were
pushed to their limits physically as well as mentally.
In 1964, the
ordinance concerning police recruit qualifications still required only a grammar school
education. Although by 1969 all of the officers on the force had high school diplomas (or
equivalency), none had college degrees. The term "chanceman" was no longer used
after the 1960's being replaced by the term "probationary patrolman".
Among technology
improvements made in the early 1960's was the acquisition of walkie-talkie units. The
department grew in strength in terms of personnel from twenty-six officers in 1961 to
twenty-seven officers in 1969. Also in 1967, the physical location of police headquarters was
moved from old Borough Hall on Stockton Street to the new Borough Hall across the street,
where the department is housed today.
In 1972 there was a
change in leadership in the department. In that year, Lieutenant Michael Carnevale was
appointed Chief of Police replacing Chief Peter McCrohan, who retired after serving
thirty-seven years on the force and eleven years as the Chief.
There were important
changes taking place within the police department. Efforts were made to improve the
professional image of the department. Rules and Regulations manuals were delivered.
New
Rules and Regulations were established and each officer was issued a manual
containing the Rules and Regulations. This manual was about twelve years in the workings, with initial efforts
on the project beginning in 1961. The new manual drew from a rules and regulations
directive that was instituted in 1955 for the department by the International Police
Chiefs Association.
In the 70's, we also
saw the appearance of recruits having some college background and also a few with college
degrees. Residency requirements changed in the 70's going from eight miles from police
headquarters to ten miles and then to no residency requirement by the decade's end.
By the 80's many of
the recruits coming on to the department had four year college degrees, most with degrees in criminal justice. One of the reasons for the influx of college recruits
was the attractive salary being paid by the department. In the mid-80's, the starting pay
for patrol officers was in the mid $20,000.
1975 saw the
entrance of one of New Jersey's first female police officers, Monica Sheehan. This officer subsequently left the force in 1980. Currently there are
five
female officers on the Princeton force.
The 70's and 80's
saw modest specialization and technological advances on the department.
Specialization was evident with the formation of the Arson Squad (1972); Crime Prevention
Unit (1978); and the Traffic Safety Unit (1978).
The
organizational structure of the department changed in 1974 with the creation of
the position of "captain" in addition to the chief, lieutenant, five sergeants
and approximately twenty-two patrol officers.
In 1991, Chief Michael F. Carnevale retired after nineteen years as police chief. Chief Carnevale is credited with advancing professionalism within the department.
On January 17,1991, Captain Thomas B. Michaud was appointed acting chief. His appointment was made permanent on Chief Carnevale's official retirement date of May l,1991. Chief Michaud came up through the ranks, as did all of his predecessors.
During the early 1990's, the department began to move in the direction of community policing. Officers received training in community policing, cultural diversity, and community relations. In 1994, the department installed a mobile data terminal system in all of it's marked patrol cars.
Chief Michaud retired in July 2001, being succeeded by Chief Charles W. Davall, Jr. Chief Davall, a firm believer in the concepts of community policing, continued to move the department in that direction, while also working to advance the department technologically.
In January 2005, Chief Davall retired after 25 years of dedicated service. He was quickly replaced by Anthony V. Federico, a Princeton native, who has spent a productive 25 years with the police department.
In July of 2006, the department took delivery of a Harley Davidson motorcycle. There hasn't been a motorcycle patrol in Princeton Borough since the 1960's, but thanks for forfeiture funds from the Mercer County Prosecutors Office, Princeton can hear the rumbling sounds and see the iconic mounted motorcycle patrol once again. Officers William Perez (badge 119) and Merv Arana (badge 126) were both trained by the Philadelphia Highway Patrol, and it has gone into the regular patrol vehicle rotation.
In January of 2007, the Princeton Borough Police Department promoted Sergeant Sharon Papp from Patrol Sergeant to Lieutenant, making her the first female Lieutenant in the history of the department. Prior to being promoted as the first female Lieutenant, she was the first female Sergeant in the departments history when she was promoted to Sergeant in September of 2003. Prior to working for the department, Lt. Papp worked for the Mercer County Prosecutors Office and Mercer County Sheriffs Department as a Sheriff's Officer. Lt. Papp graduated from Seton Hall University with a Masters degree.
Currently
there are thirty-two officers on the Princeton Borough Police Department, which
include a chief, three lieutenants, six sergeants, four detectives
and the remainder are patrol officers.
PRINCETON BOROUGH POLICE
DEPARTMENT
MARSHALS/POLICE CHIEFS
AND MILESTONES
1813 Princeton
Borough incorporated, with an ordinance establishing
the duties of the
Marshall.
1817 - Marshal
William Cook
1817 - Marshal Harry
Higgins
1818 - Marshal Harry
Higgins
1818 - Marshal William
Hight
1818 - Marshal-Abraham
Smith
1819 - Marshal
Abraham Smith
1820 - Marshal
Josias Ferguson
1821 - Marshal
William Hankins
1831 - Marshal
Joseph Mount
1837 - Marshal Ralph
Gulick
1849-1860 Marshal
David Hulfish
1871 - Marshal James
Leggen
1871 - Marshal A. M. Suydam
1873-1874 Marshal
Archibald Clow
1875 - Marshal S.
Mershon
1877 - Marshal I.
Wolfe
1880 - Marshal
William Leggen
1886 - Princeton
Borough Police Department established
1888-1889 Marshal
James Cole
1889 - Marshal
Joseph Amburg
1889 - Marshal
William Snook
1891-1892 Marshal
Francis Gill
1892 - Marshal Eb
Stockton
1892 - Marshal W.A.
Margerum
1893 - Marshal W. B.
Lawrence
1893-1901 Marshal R.
B. Tyrell
1901-1922 Marshal
(Chief) William Kilfoil
1922 - Chief William
Rodweller (died while in office)
1923-1933 Chief
Charles Meyers
1935-1954 Chief
Edward Mahan
1954-1958 Chief John
H. Smith
1958-1961 Chief
Raymond Mondone
1961-1972 Chief
Peter McCrohan
1972-1991 Chief
Michael F.Carnevale
1991-2001 Chief
Thomas B. Michaud
2001-2005 Chief Charles W. Davall, Jr.
2006-2009 Chief Anthony V. Federico