Travel with us now into the life of the average Anaheim Police Officer, about 50 years ago, give or take a few years.  Anaheim was about to break the 100.000 mark in population.  A brand new officer, let's call him Officer Andy Anaheim had just hired on.  He reported for duty at the City Personnel Office located in a house at the corner of Philadelphia and Broadway.  He met up with about 4-5 other young men who were also about to be hired on.  The Patrol Captain arrived and led this small group over to the "new" Anaheim Police Headquarters at 425 S. Harbor.  It was about half the size it is today. 

Some of this new group of officers hiring on had some prior experience on other police departments in the Midwest or California.  The Captain asked if everybody had a gun and about three did not own a gun.  The Captain magically produced from his bottom desk drawer three brand new 4 inch Smith and Wesson .38 revolvers.  He sold them to the officers for $65.00 and told them they could pay him in 3 payments over the next three paydays.  A Sergeant arrived and took the three officers down to the range and issued them six (6) bullets.  The officers loaded their new revolvers and shot down range and there was not even a target up.  After this he issued them all 6 more bullets, they loaded their weapons and he declared them as "qualified." 

Assignments to one of three shifts 7AM-3PM, 3PM-11PM or llPM-7AM

were made.  The group of 5 officers proceeded to Ritz Cleaners located at Olive and Lincoln.  At this time they were measured for new brown uniforms, issued leather gear, and the green "Ike" jacket.  Ritz was the cleaners they dropped their uniforms off to for cleaning and Ritz would open an account for the officer to charge his cleaning to---but he better never fall behind in a payment.  The Chief and the owner of Ritz were buddies!

  What did this group of new officers look like?  First of all the official flyer from City Personnel said he was a " Policeman, 5' 10" tall,

and 21 to 35 years of age."  All officers hired were males (no police women existed--except for 2--and they are another chapter) and had to be 23 years of age, married, and ex-military.  A single guy of 21 with no military service was a rare exception.  The eagle type badge said "Policeman" on it.

After the uniform fitting the group of 5 officers returned to 425 S. Harbor Blvd and were assigned to ride with a veteran officer for the rest of the day shift.

The new officers tucked their new revolvers into their belts and with white shirts, tie, and suit coat on they rode off on their first calls.  Remember, they were Policemen and were fully qualified on the range.

The next day the group of 5 reported to their assigned shift (a half hour earlier than the starting time for briefing).  They were still wearing a suit, dress shirt and tie with that revolver tucked into their belt.  They were all waiting about 4-5 days for their uniforms to be ready at the Ritz.  Sometimes on a call the citizen would start talking to the new officer instead of the veteran officer because they thought the one in the suit was a detective. They rode as a two man car in one of the 16 areas that Anaheim was divided into with one Field Sergeant handling West and one handling East.  There was just about nothing East of Tustin Avenue; in fact it probably hadn't been annexed yet.

The officers rode in un-air conditioned cars (Dodges and Plymouths) in long sleeve uniform shirts with black ties.  The officers would un- hook the tie and roll up the sleeves until they had to exit the car on a call. They always kept alert for the location of the field sergeant driving by and they became masters at hooking on a tie and buttoning the sleeves in about 5 seconds as the field sergeant came into view.  Why were the officers wearing long sleeves and a tie when they had been issued short sleeve shirts and the temperature was hovering around 90 degrees?  Simple.  The Day Watch Commander made the decision of long sleeves or short sleeves and if he didn't venture out of the station on a personal mission--the long sleeves and ties stayed on.  Once it was August and the Day Shift WC went outside and said, "By golly it is hot.  Tell the guys we can wear short sleeves."  A loud HURRAY was heard throughout the town!

Officer Andy Anaheim reported to work and clocked in on a time clock located outside the Desk Sgt office (yes, it is true, we had a real live time clock).  Officer Andy proceeded downstairs to his locker, got dressed and his uniform and equipment had to be ready for inspection.  Every day was a military open ranks inspection of uniform, shoes, shave, etc.  The length of the sideburns had to conform to a drawing of sideburns in the procedure manual.  The officers were allowed to carry a .357 magnum but it had to have .38 ammo in it.  Frequently we had to eject our ammo and have it in the left hand and the weapon in the right hand so the ammo could be checked.  Once a WC checked officer’s driver’s licenses and 3 officers with expired CDL's were found.  Their next trip was to the DMV office (LaPalma and Euclid in those days) and one officer failed the written test!!

On the briefing schedule was the reading of the”log" from the previous shifts. The Sergeant read the 459's, 503's, and 211's.  Officers took great pride in "maintaining" their area and it was embarrassing if your area had been "hit" with those kinds of crimes while you were on duty the previous shift.  The Sergeants would lower their gaze and stare at the offending officer.  They quickly got the message.  After the reading of recent crimes came training.  Quite often the officers watched US Navy black and white movies of childbirths.  Many stories are told of unnamed officers passing out as those movies were shown.  In those days the Fire Department paramedics did not exist and APD officers answered all the medical aids.  Many officers delivered babies and did CPR from the house to the ambulance and even to the hospital with heart attack cases.   Another form of training was beating "Numb John" which was a leather clad dummy on a platform with wheels.  They would all take turns striking "Numb John" on the legs and arms with the wooden batons.  There was a supply of about 20 wooden batons with the rawhide strap that went around your hand and thumb.  As one shift went off and another came on they would toss the baton onto a table in the lounge and the next officer would pick it up.   Quite often there would be squad formations of wedge and line in the back lot by the gas pumps.  The officers moved across the lot in locked step with such commands of "Number 12 and 13 fall back to receive prisoners" as they faced an imaginary screaming crowd of rioters.

Before going out into the streets we had to check the units for equipment.

Many will not believe this, but it included a broom and dust pan.  Quite often the officers would have to sweep up glass from the street at an accident scene.  The shotgun was mounted on the dash and had a key lock.  In 1969 we had Fords and some brilliant person decided that the shotguns would be mounted in the trunks of the units.  When a call of a 211 in progress or such was dispatched the smart officer would pull over, remove the shotgun from the trunk, and then proceed to the call. Finally, common sense returned and the shotguns returned to the front seat.

Back again to our group of new officers.  Usually they would ride about 4 -5 weeks with a veteran officer but there was no formal FTO program with daily evaluations and 5 levels of training like there is today.  If the veteran officer gave the ok the rookie was assigned to Area 10 which was an overlap of 4 areas with North, South. East and West Streets as the perimeter.  It was basically a "gopher" car being called to transport units to and from the City garage, taking prisoners to the County Jail or to OCH (remember that designation?), picking up papers at court or standing by as trustees washed cars, getting lunch for  dispatchers, WC, or DS and other varied jobs.  The rookie was told he could make arrests, but if he wanted to write a traffic ticket he had to have the Field Sergeant respond.  That really made sense.

Have you noticed one thing missing?  A Police Academy!!   Yes, we had a police academy.  After doing police work for sometimes 6 or 7 months, then they were sent to the Academy.  It was held at Orange Coast College for 5 weeks.

Not like the 9 month grueling top notch academy held by the Orange County Sheriffs today.  A civilian named Mr. Hunt ran the academy.  For physical training volleyball was the extent of it.  Rookies wore a wash and wear khaki uniform.  Many officers shudder to think of the decisions and calls made

when they were out on their own in a solo unit without having some kind of

training in the Penal Code and police practices.  Absolutely scary.

After Officer Andy Anaheim graduated the academy he would return back to patrol and regular police duties.  Examples of calls that frequently were dispatched:  Dead animals in the roadway, dying animals, sick pets of citizens, even loose cows from the Yellis Dairy.  (Who remembers where the Yellis Dairy was?)  Anaheim did their own animal control and two older men (that wore full APD uniforms) performed this job.  On weekends and nights the field officers handled the calls.  A "flat cat" or "squished possum" required the officer to find an empty cardboard box and using the dust pan and broom in the trunk.  Fido or Boots was shoveled into the box and then heaved into a nearby dumpster.  A sick or stray animal was taken to the pound on South Manchester in Orange.  They had two secure cages inside animal control and the sick or stray dog or cat was slid down a chute into this general population cage depending if cat or dog.  Often a dog was sent down the chute into the cat cage or a cat into the dog cage.  The ruckus and noise that would erupt at 2 AM or 3 AM was indescribable!  The lone attendant inside the county animal control would hurry out to see the offender, only to see a black and white with lights off disappearing into the night.  Control One, located next door, would plead on the red channel "Control One to the unit just dropping off a dog at animal control--IDENTIFY NOW!!”  Silence was the all County response.

Every Tuesday a call would go out about 3 PM to some unit not on a call.  The mission was to go to the City Clerks office and "pick up City Council agendas and deliver same."  For the next 2 hours a police unit dropped off the City Council agendas at each Councilman's home.  They had to be delivered by 5 PM as the City Council meeting started at 6 PM.  The officers promptly responded to this high priority call.

Anaheim officers had some of the most modern of communications known to the police world.  They were on one channel with LaHabra, Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, and Placentia.  All dispatching for all these cities continued non-stop for the 8 hour shift.  Many a time a gravel throated elderly man dispatching for LaHabra was insistent on putting out a minor 902T or stray cat call while Anaheim was working a 211 in progress.  Officers from both departments would implore the dispatcher to "10-3, Station 26 is working 10-33 traffic," His reply.  "Negative, this call came from Lieutenant X in the detective bureau."   This dispatching debacle continued until APD modernized and went to a channel with just Buena Park.   At this point Anaheim had reached 250,000 population, had the Angels, Disneyland and the Rams.  Oh, what fun!!

Meanwhile, Officer Andy Anaheim was trying his best to follow all the department rules and avoid ever having to go in and see the chief.  But discipline extended beyond o-duty activities.  One day Officer Andy had been doing some hard work around his home that he just bought.  He was dirty, sweaty and tired.  On the way back from the County dump he went into a beer bar at Brookhurst and Ball for a cold one. The next day at work an older veteran officer whispered to him reminding him of the Chief's “bar rule."  "What is that?"  Officer Andy exclaims.  The veteran tells him that there is no drinking in any bar in Anaheim unless accompanied by his wife and food must be served in the bar.  Wow!  A rule of the chief, not in writing, but enforced.  Another rule was:

look at the records clerks, do official business, but do not talk to them on a friendly basis or make any social arrangements with them for off duty.  A heavily enforced rule, but again not in writing.  Any discipline at APD came from the Chief (not the Sgt, not the Lt. not the Capt) and when an officer entered his office to discuss a minor fender bender on a police unit to a Class A felony, the only thing an officer heard was "10 days off" or "You're fired."

The Peace Officer Bill of Rights, The Anaheim Police Association, grievances, arbitrations, message and reply forms, progressive discipline or Skelley Decisions were all unheard of things.  "10 days off" or "You're fired" was it.

The Anaheim Police Association existed as a "flower fund" and dues of 50 cents a payday helped raise money for flowers for any wife having a baby, an officer in the hospital for some reason, and a Christmas gift for the Chief.

The annual Anaheim Halloween Parade was the biggest since Disneyland.  A giant parade wound its way from LaPalma Park, south on Anaheim Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue to Anaheim High School.  Spectators lined the streets to see this.  Everybody was assigned a position and overtime paid.  In those days OT was Step C straight time regardless of your rank or seniority.  It was called "green sheet OT."  The Chamber of Commerce distributed a large (6" in diameter) Orange pin with a smiling pumpkin face and all City employees had to wear it for 3 weeks prior to the Parade.  One year they discovered the police were not wearing the pins and it became a point of the daily inspection.  It was prominently pinned to the center of the left uniform pocket--and it better be there all through the shift!  

The officers looked absolutely silly answering a 415 bar fight or similar call

wearing this gross orange pin.  One gutsy officer lined up for inspection without the Halloween pin and told the Lt. that he wanted to go see the Chief himself if he was ordered to wear it.  The Chief told the officer that he didn't have to wear it and he alone would be the exception in the whole department.  On the next Sergeants test the officer placed first and was continuously passed over.  He went to see the Chief and he said to the officer, "When I look at you all I see is a big Halloween pin."

An officer for the most part was assigned to a particular area.  The Sergeants referred to area integrity. This meant that the officer was almost totally responsible for all things in his area.  If the Sergeant spotted 917A's (abandoned cars) parked in the area and it had not been properly marked and a 917A card filled out for future impound he would get on the officers case and might even "log" him.  The Sergeant also looked for open doors or open windows on graveyard shift and it was in the officers’ best interest to find the window or door first and leave an open window or door card for the owner in the morning.     Do we even have these cards today?  Persons selling flowers on the corners or homeless begging money on the divided roadway were also the responsibility of the officer.

There was no formal evaluation forms filled out on officers.  If the officer screwed up or did a life saving feat the Sergeant would note it in the "log" kept under lock and key in the DS office.  The Sergeant would read the log

entries to the officer and even entries made by other supervisors.  The officer sat across the room and listened, but could not see the entry or even be told

who made it.  Some cases existed in which the Sergeant opened the wrong officers "packet" and logged him by mistake.  This couldn't be challenged or corrected.  It was permanent.

All Patrol shifts worked 8 1/2 hours per day and 5 days per week.  Every two months there was a rotation to another shift and seniority didn't matter.

Attending classes at community colleges or upper division colleges were encouraged, but it took a lot of juggling and trading to enable an officer to attend class.  Semesters were generally 4 1/2 months long and shift rotations were every 2 months.  There was overtime, again pay was Step C Patrolman regardless of time or rank.  APD did OT at two Carl's Juniors, high school football games, two libraries, and a place called Harmony Park.  This was a very popular teen age and young adult dance hall located on Broadway West of Manchester.  The building is torn down today.  A friend of the Chief ran the dance hall as a commercial venture for himself and wore a full APD uniform with gun, badge, and Lieutenant bars.  He had been designated a "reserve" and no reserve unit existed at APD.  He had full supervisory powers and some unlucky persons clashed with him and received the "10 days off" or "you're demoted."   Assignments at Harmony Park were exciting as the night usually ended with a giant 415 in the parking lot for the detail of OT officers to break up. 

Over a period of years Anaheim PD became more and more professional, changed to blue uniforms, instituted K-9 patrols, a very successful helicopter program, gang details, and other specialized units.  Officers now work a 3-12 schedule in Patrol and this helps attract lateral officers.  The pay has kept close to other large cities in California with perks such as POST Education pay, time and half for overtime, extra pay for FTO officers and a top notch police association that helps guard officers rights and working conditions.

The retired author of this article tells all the still active officers that they are working for one of the best departments in California and to "hang in there" and you will be rewarded with a super well earned pension thanking you for your dedicated service.