First Training School for Florida Highway Patrol Officers
N 27° 29.842 W 082° 34.409
17R E 344567 N 3042510
In November, 1939, the first training school for Florida Highway Patrol officers was held in Bradenton, Florida, with 40 recruits.
Waymark Code: WM27YY
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 09/19/2007
Views: 59
After finding a marker telling me about this first I went to their website and got more information above and below:
The school was directed by Captain George Mingle of the Ohio Highway Patrol, a personal friend of Colonel H. Neil Kirkman. Thirty-two recruits graduated and became patrolmen. Twenty patrolmen were issued specially equipped Ford motor vehicles and twelve were assigned Model 84, Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
On December 12, 1939, "Fourteen Special Autos" arrived in Bradenton for patrol use. The black and cream, two-door Ford Coaches were equipped with sirens and bullet-proof windshields.
In the early years, there was no form of radio communication. Patrolmen would make regular stops at service stations or grocery stores along their routes to call in for assignments, reports of wrecks, and messages.
By the end of 1940, the first full year of operation, the Florida Highway Patrol had 59 officers. The State was divided into three divisions: Northern, Central and Southern. The commanding officer of each division was a Lieutenant. Since there were no district offices, all the records were kept in Tallahassee and each patrolman was responsible for mailing his daily reports to Tallahassee.
This information was found on the Florida Highway Patrol's history page.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 11/05/1939
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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