Frank Hague Commissioner where was he commissioner? City Commission of Jersey City. what years was he Commissioner? 1913, how long was he commissioner? 1917, what were some noteworthy things that happened while he was Commissioner? Hague was named public safety commissioner, with control over the police and fire departments. did the fire and police get along with him? Hague immediately set about reshaping the corrupt Jersey City police force
What did the police and fire department do when he did this?
What did the police and fire department do when Frank Hague began reshaping the Jersey City police force?
In 1913, the first election for the city commission saw 91 men on the ballot competing for five available seats on the commission. Hague finished fourth with 17,390 votes and was elected to the first City Commission of Jersey City. The only Wittpenn-supported candidate, A. Harry Moore, was also elected. As a result of having garnered the most votes (21,419) former mayor Fagan became the first mayor under this new form of government, and the only Republican to hold that title in Jersey City for the following 75 years. Hague was named public safety commissioner, with control over the police and fire departments. In the same year, Hague cemented his control of the Hudson County political machine by securing for himself the leadership of the Hudson County Democratic Organization Executive Committee.  Hague immediately set about reshaping the corrupt Jersey City police force with tough Horsehoe recruits. Hague spearheaded crackdowns on prostitution and narcotics trafficking, earning him favor with religious leaders. These enforcement acts went as far as Hague himself marching across local Vaudeville stages personally directing the shut down of "girlie shows." At the heart of this change was an inner cadre of officers known as the Zeppelin Squad or "zepps" who were personally loyal to Hague alone. The "zepps" would spy on, and report back to Hague about other members of the department. Eventually, Jersey City had one patrolman for every 3,000 residents, causing a marked decline in the city's once-astronomical crime rate.  Hague took steps to curb the police department's lackadaisical work ethic, punishing offenses that had gone unpunished for years. He also made much-needed improvements to the fire department; at the time he took office Jersey City's fire insurance rates were among the highest in the nation.  Upon discovering in early 1916 that millions of pounds of munitions were being stockpiled on the Jersey City waterfront, Hague travelled to Washington, D.C. to register concerns for the safety of his constituents. His meetings with Congressmen resulted in no action, Congress having decided that Jersey City was an "appropriate port." Hague's concerns were shown to be valid in July 1916 when the Black Tom explosion sent shrapnel flying across the city.  In 1917, Hague, with his reputation as the man who cleaned up the police force, ran for reelection. He put together a commission ticket called "The Unbossed." The ticket consisted of him, Parks Commissioner Moore, Revenue Commissioner George Brensinger, ex-judge Charles F.X. O'Brien and City Clerk Michael I. Fagan. It swept all five spots on the commission. Moore topped the poll, and traditional practice called for him to be appointed mayor. However, when the commission met for the first time on May 11, Hague was chosen as the new mayor. CANNOTANSWER
Hague took steps to curb the police department's lackadaisical work ethic, punishing offenses that had gone unpunished for years.
Frank Hague (January 17, 1876 – January 1, 1956) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from 1917 to 1947, Democratic National Committeeman from New Jersey from 1922 until 1949, and Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1924 until 1949.

Hague has a widely known reputation for corruption and bossism and has been called "the grandaddy of Jersey bosses". By the time he left office in 1947, he enjoyed palatial homes, European vacations, and a private suite at the Plaza Hotel. His wealth has been estimated to have been over $10 million at the time of his death, although his City salary never exceeded $8,500 per year and he had no other legitimate source of income. His desk, according to legend, had a specially designed lap drawer which could be pushed outward towards the person with whom he was meeting. This allowed his "guests" to discreetly deliver bribes in the form of envelopes containing large amounts of cash.  However, according to New Jersey preservationist John Hallinan, the drawers were a traditional feature of 19th century partners desks and that "[t]he last thing [Hague] would need to do is take a bribe personally". As of October 2021, the desk was on display in City Hall.

During the height of his power Hague's political machine, known as "the organization", was one of the most powerful in the United States controlling politics on local, county, and state levels. Hague's personal influence extended to the national level, influencing federal patronage, and presidential campaigns.

Early life
Francis "Frank" Hague, born in Jersey City, was  the fourth of eight children to John D. and Margaret Hague (née Fagen), immigrants from County Cavan, Ireland. He was raised in Jersey City's Second ward, an area known as The Horseshoe due to its shape which wrapped around a railroad loop.  The ward was created when the Republican-controlled legislature gerrymandered a district within Jersey City in 1871 to concentrate and isolate Democratic, and mostly Catholic, votes.

By age 14, Hague was expelled from school prior to completing the sixth grade for poor attendance and unacceptable behavior. He worked briefly as a blacksmith's apprentice for the Erie Railroad. While training at a local gym for his own potential debut as a prizefighter, he arranged to become manager for Joe Craig, a professional lightweight boxer. Craig was successful enough to allow Hague to buy a few suits that made him appear successful. In 1896, Hague's apparent prosperity gained him the attention of local tavern owner "Nat" Kenny who was seeking a candidate for constable in the upcoming primary to run against the candidate of a rival tavern owner. Kenny provided Hague with $75 to "spread around", and Frank Hague quickly won his first election by a ratio of three-to-one.

Political career

Early success
Hague's victory in the Constable election brought him to the attention of Hudson County Democratic political boss "Little Bob" Davis, and Davis asked Hague to help get out Democratic votes for the upcoming 1897 Mayoral election. Hague's efforts were credited with generating large voter turnout in the Second Ward for the 1897 and 1899 elections. As a reward for his work, Hague was appointed as a deputy sheriff at a salary of $25 per week. Over this time, Hague took a leadership role in the Second Ward Democratic club.

In the 1901 Mayoral election, Republican Mark M. Fagan was elected. Hague's second ward was one of only two that voted Democratic. Hague survived a Republican challenge for a third term as Constable the following year.

The "Red Dugan" affair
As a ward leader, Hague was approached by a woman to provide assistance for her son, who had been arrested for passing a forged check. The son, Red Dugan, had been a classmate of Hague's in school. According to the Boston Evening Transcript of October 4, 1904, Dugan had deposited a forged check for $955 in the Peoples Bank of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and convinced the bank manager to let him withdraw $500. Hague ignored a subpoena to testify in Hudson County Court and traveled to Massachusetts to provide an alibi for Dugan. Hague and another deputy sheriff,  Thomas "Skidder" Madigan, claimed that they had seen Dugan in Jersey City on the day of the alleged offense. Both were threatened with perjury charges.

Upon returning to Jersey City, Hague was found guilty of contempt of court for ignoring the subpoena. He was fined $100 and stripped of his duties as Deputy Sheriff.

In spite of the resulting press coverage of the event, Hague was more deeply embraced by his constituency. Thomas Smith wrote: "But to the residents of the Horseshoe, Frank Hague had gone out of his way to help a friend – had practically given his livelihood to aid a brother." In the succeeding municipal election of 1905, which saw the return of incumbent Fagan to the office of mayor, Hague was elected to a fourth term as constable.

Ward leader
Hague rose through the Democratic machinery of Hudson County, which drew much of its strength by providing newly arrived immigrants with rudimentary social services. Hague took a job as a collector for a local brewery, leaving him with time to spend in the streets and the local taverns which were hubs of political activity. He also spent his time cleaning up the loose ends of the Second Ward's south-end Democratic Club to consolidate his power.

As a reward for his efforts in turning out votes in the 1905 election, Bob Davis named Hague as the party leader for the Second Ward and arranged for Hague to be appointed as Sergeant at Arms for the New Jersey State Assembly.

Political reformer
Hague broke ties with "Boss" Davis in 1906 over a difference of opinion on a candidate for appointment to the city Street and Water Board. As a result, Hague supported H. Otto Wittpenn for mayor in the 1907 election. Wittpenn was a reformer who opposed the control Davis held over Hudson County politics. Over the objections of Davis, newly elected Mayor Wittpenn appointed Hague as chief custodian of City Hall – a "cushy" job with plenty of patronage opportunities. During the Wittpenn administration, Hague also became friendly with Wittpenn's secretary – a Presbyterian Sunday school teacher named A. Harry Moore.

The resulting battle for control of the Hudson County Democratic machine would ironically result in one of the greatest boosts to Hague's rise to power – the Walsh Act of 1911. In 1909 Davis, seeing support for Hague increasing, supported Wittpenn's re-election against former mayor Fagan. Hague's second ward produced the largest plurality of Wittpenn votes of any of Jersey City's 12 wards. Davis then arranged the appointment of Fagan to the Hudson County Tax Board. When Wittpenn's administration began facing troubles, including Fagan's discovery of a Pennsylvania Railroad property that had paid no taxes for four years, Wittpenn blamed Davis.

Seeking to curb the influence of Davis, Wittpenn announced his candidacy for Governor, stating "I have endured the machine as long as possible, but patience is no longer a virtue." Davis, in turn, prevailed upon Woodrow Wilson, then President of Princeton University, to oppose Wittpenn's candidacy. Wilson's victory was overwhelming even in Hague's ward, despite heavy-handed tactics used there. The Jersey Journal wrote: "Cops on duty were using clubs and blackjacks to assist Mayor Wittpenn and Frank Hague defeat the Davis men."

Wilson's reform-minded term as Governor saw the establishment of Presidential primary elections, introduced workers' compensation, and brought about passage of the Walsh Act which provided for a non-partisan commission form of municipal government that was greatly reflective of his academic writings in Congressional Government.

"Little Bob" Davis died of cancer shortly after the 1910 gubernatorial election leaving a vacuum in the power structure of the Hudson County Democrats. Wittpenn quickly endorsed the idea of converting Jersey City to a commission form of government, but was opposed by forces, including Hague, attempting to take control of the party. Hague campaigned heavily against the idea in the Horseshoe, claiming that such a system of citywide elected commissioners would erode the influence of the working-class and consolidate power among the city's elite. Wittpenn's opponents successfully petitioned for a change in the date of the vote on the charter change, moving it from September to mid-July, and the proposal was defeated. As a result of this campaign, Hague came under the scrutiny of The Jersey Journal, which had supported the proposed charter change. It was reported that Hague's older brother, a battalion chief on the city fire department, had been on "sick leave" for three years at full pay.

Hague reconciled with Wittpenn to support his re-election in 1911. Wittpenn then supported Hague's nomination for Commissioner of Streets and Water. Both were elected. The new position greatly expanded Hague's patronage authority. While City Hall employed a few dozen custodians, there were hundreds of workers in the Street and Water Department. Hague's work as head of the Department of Street Cleaners even convinced The Jersey Journal to endorse him as a "reform candidate" in the next election.

In the spring of 1913, having gained confidence in his own ability to assure himself a place on the commission, Hague supported the renewed effort to change the Jersey City government from the Mayor-Council model to a commission model under the recently adopted Walsh Act.  This act would place all executive and legislative powers in a five-man commission, each of whom would head a city department.  The five commissioners would choose one of their colleagues to be mayor.  The vote for charter change passed, and the stage was set for Frank Hague's rise to power.

Commissioner
In 1913, the first election for the city commission saw 91 men on the ballot competing for five available seats on the commission. Hague finished fourth with 17,390 votes and was elected to the five-man commission. The only Wittpenn-supported candidate, A. Harry Moore, was also elected. As a result of having garnered the most votes (21,419) former mayor Fagan became the first mayor under this new form of government, and the only Republican to hold that title in Jersey City for the following 75 years.  Hague was named public safety commissioner, with control over the police and fire departments. In the same year, Hague cemented his control of the Hudson County political machine by securing for himself the leadership of the Hudson County Democratic Organization Executive Committee.

Hague immediately set about reshaping the corrupt Jersey City police force with tough Horseshoe recruits. Hague spearheaded crackdowns on prostitution and narcotics trafficking, earning him favor with religious leaders. These enforcement acts went as far as Hague himself marching across local Vaudeville stages personally directing the shut down of "girlie shows." At the heart of this change was an inner cadre of officers known as the Zeppelin Squad or "zepps" who were personally loyal to Hague alone. The "zepps" would spy on, and report back to Hague about other members of the department. Eventually, Jersey City had one patrolman for every 3,000 residents, causing a marked decline in the city's once-astronomical crime rate.

Hague took steps to curb the police department's lackadaisical work ethic, punishing offenses that had gone unpunished for years.  He also made much-needed improvements to the fire department; at the time he took office Jersey City's fire insurance rates were among the highest in the nation.

Upon discovering in early 1916 that millions of pounds of munitions were being stockpiled on the Jersey City waterfront, Hague travelled to Washington, D.C. to register concerns for the safety of his constituents. His meetings with Congressmen resulted in no action, Congress having decided that Jersey City was an "appropriate port." Hague's concerns were shown to be valid in July 1916 when the Black Tom explosion sent shrapnel flying across the city.

In 1917, Hague, with his reputation as the man who cleaned up the police force, ran for reelection.  He put together a commission ticket called "The Unbossed."  The ticket consisted of him, Parks Commissioner Moore, Revenue Commissioner George Brensinger, ex-judge Charles F.X. O'Brien and City Clerk Michael I. Fagan.  It swept all five spots on the commission.  Moore topped the poll, and traditional practice called for him to be appointed mayor.  However, when the commission met for the first time on May 11, Hague was chosen as the new mayor.

Boss of Jersey City

Technically, Hague's only responsibility as mayor was to appoint the school board.  Otherwise, he was merely first among equals, with no powers over and above the other four commissioners. However, soon after taking office, he wrested control of the Hudson County Democratic Party from Wittpenn.  This allowed him to significantly influence the makeup of the commission in this overwhelmingly Democratic city. He soon built the organization into one of the most powerful political machines in the country. Hague himself became very wealthy, owning a $125,000 summer home in Deal, living in a large apartment in the best building in the city, and able to give a $50,000 altar to a local Catholic church. In 1941, Dartmouth professor Dayton David McKean wrote The Boss, a book about Hague's political machine, in which he estimated his amassed wealth at four million dollars on an annual mayoral salary of $8,000 a year.

He also had the support of a significant faction of Republicans which dated to his initial election as mayor, when he cut a deal with then-Governor Walter Edge in which Edge effectively ceded North Jersey to Hague in return for keeping South Jersey for himself. Also, as public safety commissioner (a post he held throughout his entire tenure), he controlled the two departments with the most patronage appointments in the city.  This post also placed responsibility for maintaining public order in his hands.

Hague soon extended his influence statewide by helping to elect his "puppets" as governor. In the 1919 gubernatorial election, Hague endorsed State Senator Edward I. Edwards and aggressively campaigned for him.  Edwards carried Hudson County by 50,000 votes, which was enough for him to win statewide by just under 15,000 votes.  Hague proclaimed himself leader of the New Jersey Democratic Party, and Edwards allowed him to recommend dozens of appointments to high state offices.  Democrats won five out of eight gubernatorial races between 1919 and 1940, more often than not due to massive landslides in Hudson County.  However, he was never able to extend his dominance to the state legislature.

Hague was able to stay in power despite a nearly constant effort to turn him out of office from 1921 onward.  He was also able to avoid prosecution despite numerous federal and state investigations in part due to the fact he took most of his kickbacks in cash.  However, from the early 1940s onward, many of the older ethnic groups started moving to the suburbs.  They were replaced by Poles, Italians, Eastern Europeans and African-Americans.  Hague never adapted his methods to the new groups.

Hague had little tolerance for those who dared oppose him publicly.  He relied on two ordinances of dubious constitutionality to muzzle critics.  A 1920 ordinance effectively required people making political speeches to obtain clearance from the chief of police.  A 1930 ordinance gave the public safety commissioner—Hague himself—the power to turn down permits for meetings if he felt it necessary to prevent "riots, disturbances or disorderly assemblage."  The latter ordinance was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, but continued to be enforced for several years after that decision. The police were also allowed to stop and search anyone without probable cause or a warrant after 9 pm.

President maker
In 1932, Hague, a friend of Al Smith, backed Smith against Franklin D. Roosevelt during the race for the Democratic nomination. When Roosevelt won the nomination, Hague offered to organize the biggest political rally anyone had ever seen if Roosevelt would launch his presidential campaign in New Jersey. When Roosevelt formally began his campaign with an event at the Jersey Shore town of Sea Girt, Hague's machine made sure there were several thousand Hudson County voters looking on and cheering.  Hague's support was rewarded with funding for a massive medical center complex complete with a maternity hospital named after his mother, Margaret Hague. During the 1936 campaign Hague provided 150,000 adults and children to cheer Roosevelt during a visit.

Accusations of voter fraud

Hague's use of voter fraud is the stuff of legend.  In 1937, for instance, Jersey City had 160,050 registered voters, but only 147,000 people who were at least 21 years old—the legal voting age.

In 1932, Governor Moore appointed a lawyer named Thomas J. Brogan, who had served as Hague's personal attorney in corruption hearings, to an associate Justice seat on the state's Supreme Court.  Less than a year later Brogan was named as Chief Justice.  In at least two instances of alleged voting fraud in the 1930s (Ferguson v. Brogan, 112 N.J.L. 471; Clee v. Moore, 119 N.J.L. 215; In re Clee, 119 N.J.L. 310), Brogan's court issued extraordinary rulings in favor of the Democratic machine, in one case asserting that the district superintendent of elections had no authority to open ballot boxes, and in another case ruling that the boxes could be opened, but no one had the right to look inside.  Brogan also assigned himself to the Hudson County jurisdiction, thereby controlling the local grand jury process and squelching other election fraud cases.

Although Hague, like other political bosses of the time, was not above outright fraud at the polls, the keys to Hague's success were his matchless organizational skills and demand for complete loyalty from his subordinates.  His command over the Democratic voters of Hudson County, a densely populated urban area in a state that was still mostly rural, made him a man to reckon with among state Democrats and Republicans alike. He was a close friend of Al Smith, the New York governor who would become the first Irish-American presidential candidate in 1928. In addition, Hague's  support of Roosevelt for President was rewarded with a steady stream of perks that sustained Hague's organization throughout the Depression.

Retirement from politics
The beginning of the end for Hague came in 1943, when former governor Walter Edge was returned to office.  Edge's attorney general, Walter Van Riper, initiated several prosecutions of Hague cronies.  Hague retaliated by having his handpicked U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey bring federal indictments against Van Riper, but Van Riper was acquitted.  Edge also initiated reforms in the civil service, freeing it from Hague's control.

Edge's successor, fellow Republican Alfred Driscoll, succeeded in further curbing Hague's power over state government.  He led the effort to implement a new constitution, which streamlined state government and made it less vulnerable to control by locally based bosses like Hague.  For example, county prosecutors were now directly accountable to the state attorney general.  It also set up a new state Supreme Court, which was given supervision over the state's judges.  As the first Chief Justice, Driscoll appointed an old Hague foe, Arthur T. Vanderbilt.  Driscoll also installed voting machines throughout the state, which made it harder for corrupt politicians to steal elections.

Seeing the writing on the wall, Hague abruptly announced his retirement in 1947.  However, he was able to have his nephew, Frank Hague Eggers, chosen as his successor. It was generally understood that Hague still held the real power. This ended in 1949 when John V. Kenny, a former Hague ward leader alienated by the appointment of Eggers, put together his own commission ticket.  Due to the presence of a "third ticket," Kenny's ticket was able to oust the Hague/Eggers ticket from power, ending Hague's 32-year rule.  Kenny soon set up a machine which proved every bit as corrupt as Hague's, but far less efficient at providing services.

Friend and foe to labor

Hague was accommodating to labor unions during the first half of his mayoral career. For instance, Jersey City police were known for turning back strikebreakers, something unheard of during the 1920s. However, he became a savage opponent of labor organizers in the 1930s. The turnaround came about during a dispute with labor boss and former supporter Theodore "Teddy" Brandle, whose attempts to organize the work crews on the Pulaski Skyway construction project (1930–32) touched off a labor war so intense that local newspapers called it "the war of the meadows."

The rise of the CIO in the mid-1930s represented a threat to Hague's policy of guaranteeing labor peace to the sweatshop type industries that might otherwise have fled Jersey City's high property taxes. When Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas came to speak on behalf of the CIO during a May Day rally in Journal Square, Hague's police swept Thomas and his wife into a car, took them to the Pavonia ferry and sent them back to New York. Hague spent much of the decade inveighing against Communists and labor unions, and his attempts to suppress the CIO's activities in Jersey City led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization 307 U.S. 496 (1939), that is a cornerstone of law concerning public expression of political views on public property.

Death
Hague died on New Year's Day in 1956 at his 480 Park Avenue duplex apartment in Manhattan, New York City. While hundreds gathered to see the casket depart the funeral home, only four men were seen to remove their hats for the passing of the coffin. One woman present held an American Flag and a sign that read, "God have mercy on his sinful, greedy soul."

Hague was interred in a large mausoleum at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.

Legacy
Hague's pride and joy was the Jersey City Medical Center, which he began creating almost as soon as he became mayor. By the 1940s it had grown into a 10-building complex that provided virtually free medical care to Jersey City residents.  At the time of its completion, the Medical Center was one of the biggest medical facilities in the country and included the Medical Center Hospital, Pollak Chest Diseases Hospital, Murdoch Hall, and Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, named in honor of Hague's mother. The buildings, funded in part through federal funds obtained by Hague, are known for their Art Deco details, including marble walls, terrazzo floors, etched glass, and decorative moldings. Even at the time the Medical Center was too large to operate cost-effectively. In 2005 the 14 acre complex (much of which had fallen into disuse) was sold to a private developer who began converting two towers into a luxury condominium complex called the Beacon.

Quotes
"We hear about constitutional rights, free speech and the free press. Every time I hear those words I say to myself, 'That man is a Red, that man is a Communist.' You never heard a real American talk in that manner." – speech to the Jersey City Chamber of Commerce, January 12, 1938.

"Listen, here is the law! I am the law! These boys go to work!" – speech on city government to the Emory Methodist Episcopal Church in Jersey City, November 10, 1937.

See also
 List of mayors of Jersey City, New Jersey

Notes

References
 
 
 
 
  (originally published—Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1940).

External links

  Full text of the decision from FindLaw.com
 
 Frank Hague Page at Jersey City History
 The Life and Times of Frank Hague (2001) A five-part radio program
 The Pragmatic Populism of a Non-Partisan Politician: An Analysis of the Political Philosophy of Charles Edison

1876 births
1956 deaths
American people of Irish descent
People from Deal, New Jersey
Mayors of Jersey City, New Jersey
Political corruption in the United States
Culture of Jersey City, New Jersey
American political bosses
American political bosses from New Jersey
New Jersey Democrats
Burials at Holy Name Cemetery (Jersey City, New Jersey)
Catholics from New Jersey
American anti-communists
Nucky Johnson's Organization
Fire police are volunteer fire brigade/company members who, based upon their jurisdictional authority, receive sworn police powers, special training, and support firefighting efforts at emergency incidents. In addition to securing firefighting equipment, incident and fire scenes, and the station itself, fire police perform traffic and crowd control. In some jurisdictions, fire police are exterior firefighters and may be called upon at fire scenes to perform any of the duties of an interior firefighter except those that require a self-contained breathing apparatus. On occasion, fire police also assist regular police: they perform road closures, traffic control, crowd control at public events, missing persons searches, parade details, salvage, security, and other miscellaneous tasks as requested.

Duties

Fire police are a fire brigade resource and answer to the officer in charge (OIC) of the fire brigade in attendance. However, special fire police officers in Pennsylvania, USA, are under the direction of the state or local police. Where no other fire brigade resources are present, fire police will usually assist police under the direction of the police's OIC or, depending on local regulations, act autonomously.

While the exact role of fire police may vary between brigades and between countries, the general themes are constant throughout:

Traffic control at emergency scenes 
Traffic control consists of managing the flow of vehicles around or through the immediate vicinity of an emergency. This may entail road closures, diversions, full 'points' control at intersections, or '1-way-shunts', in which the road is reduced to one lane and its direction is alternated in a controlled fashion.

Scene safety 
Fire police assist in ensuring that the scene of an incident remains safe for firefighters, emergency service workers, and members of the public working in its vicinity.

Crowd control and liaison 
Residents, owners, occupants, relatives, transients, spectators, and the media are among those who may approach the scene of an incident, and fire police prevent them from being harmed or hampering the work of emergency services personnel working at the scene. Since fire police are often the public's first point of contact with the fire department, they must be skilled in public relations.

Scene security 
Fire police may be asked to provide a scene guard in order to prevent looting or theft and monitor unattended fire brigade equipment.

Police assistance 
Fire police are often called upon by police and other law enforcement agencies to provide additional manpower. Many of the tasks listed above also fall within the area of responsibility of the police, but fire police when on the scene may allow the police to concentrate on other more specific areas of expertise.

Logistics 
Fire police may provide a logistics resource - vehicle movements, communications or similar. This would particularly be the case at a scene controlled by the fire brigade but they may be called upon by other services.

Fire police around the world

Italian Republic

In Italy, every firefighter of the National Fire Corps (Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco) is also a Police officer.

New Zealand
In New Zealand, fire police exist by virtue of Section 33 of the Fire Service Act 1975. The Fire Service Act allows for the formation of volunteer fire police units (based on the approval of the district chief of police) and bestows upon them the legal powers of a police constable. Several fire police units exist around New Zealand, some attached to volunteer fire brigades, and others acting as individual units and/or brigades in their own right.

Fire police in New Zealand engage in all of the above listed roles. In areas where fire police do not exist, operational support members of the fire service carry out the same tasks (using the powers of a firefighter gained through Section 28 of the Fire Service Act). Firefighters (including operational support members) gain all the powers required to conduct their operations through Section 28; fire police wield both these and the powers of a constable gained through Section 33. Operationally, fire police units and operational support units are generally considered to be equivalent, and are well valued by both the operational firefighters and the New Zealand police.

Future prospects
A review of the Fire Service Act was announced in the late 2000s but a change of government placed this on hold. However, in the aftermath of the review of the Policing Act 2008 the NZ fire service announced its intention to have Section 33 of the Fire Service Act (allowing for fire police) repealed. With this in mind, fire police units across New Zealand have become operational support units, with a largely unchanged role, but without the powers of police. The powers of a constable are considered unnecessary, as all the functions of fire police can also be legally carried out under Section 28 of the Act (powers of a chief fire officer) under delegation, except for the power of arrest. Until Section 33 is repealed, fire police still exist in law, but not in practice.

United States
Fire police exist in fourteen states of the United States including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. They must take an oath of office and be sworn in by a municipal clerk or official, mayor, magistrate, judge, sheriff or justice of the peace - depending upon jurisdiction and local authorizing laws. At fire service incidents, fire police assume either the full or necessary powers of a police constable.

Some texts list Burlington County, New Jersey as forming one of the first fire police units. Laws in New Jersey State code as early as the 1850s supported fire police in their duties.

Connecticut
Unlike many other fire police departments, those in Connecticut do not necessarily have police powers or acts as sworn agents of a body of government. Instead, their authority flows directly from the fire chief of their parent fire department; however, this authority relates only to fire drills, emergencies within the fire district, and mutual aid situations. Nevertheless, the mayor or first selectman of some towns may give fire police constable status despite this worldwide custom.

The state of Connecticut requires that fire police officers are officially appointed by the fire chief, and it provides them with, among other things, distinctive badges of office, headgear, reflective equipment.

All Connecticut fire police are certified by the Connecticut Fire Police Association under the standards of the Connecticut Fire Academy, and many fire departments have specialized or modified their apparatus for traffic control. For instance, the Hebron volunteer fire company (Hebron, CT) has Service 310, a modified retired ambulance. Colchester Hayward volunteer fire company has Service 328, a utility pick-up truck that it has modified specifically for traffic control by equipping it to hold many cones and signs.

This is spelled out in Connecticut statute under Chapter 104, Section 7-313a.

Maine
Although Maine fire police are not peace officers and do not have any police powers, they may be sworn in as special police in some towns, albeit rarely. Special police are police officers appointed for one-year terms and given very limited authority by their township to carry out specified duties. For example, under Maine law, only a police officer may actually shut down a roadway, while fire police cannot.

However, in 2005, emergency workers in Maine received the authority to "redirect traffic" at emergency scenes as public safety traffic flaggers (PSTF's). This new authority improved upon the previous custom of fire police doing so by citing the state law that allows them to use reasonable force to protect a fire scene. Moreover, the law requires anyone acting as a PSTF to be properly trained and wear appropriate safety gear. Furthermore, while PSTF duties are generally carried out by fire police, other department members with proper PTSF training may be pressed into duty at busy scenes.

See Maine Revised Statutes, Title 29-A, Chapter 2091 - "Control of vehicular traffic at emergency scenes".

New York
Under New York State law, Fire Police must complete a Fire Police certification course outlined by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice (NYS DCJS). After which, each fire police member is required to take an oath of office by either the AHJ (Chief/Assistant Chief) of the supporting fire company or the town, county or city clerks office and a copy of which must be kept on file in the town, county, city clerk's office in the municipality in which they serve. The training coordinator must fill out and submit all paperwork concerning the course study and attendance to DCJS for each individual fire company. At that time, each individual person is now registered and certified as a Peace Officer by the State of New York. Fire police in New York State are peace officers with full police powers (including that of arrest) when acting pursuant to their special duties.

These duties are granted under Section 209 (c) of the General Municipal Law. As New York State peace officers, they are required to take an oath, a copy of which must be kept on file in the town clerk's office in the municipality in which they serve. As mandated by Executive Law, Section 845 (Chapter 482, Laws of 1979 and Chapter 843 Laws of 1980), they are also listed with the Central Registry of Police and Peace Officers at the New York State, Division of Criminal Justice Services, Office of Public Safety in Albany, NY.

Their duties are as follows:

To regulate traffic at emergency scenes. - In order to protect firefighters from outside interference, each New York State fire police detachment regulates traffic at the scene of any emergency to which its respective department has been called until relieved by the arrival of a fire chief or the regular police agency. 
To protect the general public at the scene of a fire. - Residents, owners, occupants, relatives, transients, spectators, and even the news media may hamper firefighting operations; therefore, New York State fire police use tact and courtesy to prevent them from being harmed or obstructing firefighting operations.
To keep fire areas clear for fire fighting purpose. - New York State fire police provide room for apparatus, emergency vehicles, service vehicles, and firefighters' vehicles to, among other things, park, operate, turn around, perform tanker operations, and lay hose lines for firefighters. 
To protect the equipment of a fire company. - New York State fire police keep all non-firefighters away from (and especially off) department vehicles and equipment in order to prevent damage and looting.
To enforce the laws of New York State relating to firematic activities and firefighting techniques. - The reckless disregard for safe driving within an emergency area, driving over fire hoses, spectators' disrespect for fire lines, and non-emergency vehicles intrusions, comprise just the tip of the iceberg of undesirable situations that New York fire police must prevent.
To cooperate with all regular police agencies. - Owing to their common causes of protection, safety, and order, New York fire police cooperate with regular police agencies. 
To protect the property at the scene of a fire until the chief releases the fire police from duty and turns the responsibility over to other police agencies or to the owner.
To preserve the crime scene until the proper authority arrives on scene. - Although, New York fire police prevent unauthorized entry into the scene, they remain alert to the fact that bystanders may possess critical information. In addition, they protect the scene's evidence and report unusual events or happenings.
To carry out the orders of the chief who is in supreme command at all fires and emergencies.

North Carolina
Uniformed regular and volunteer firemen and uniformed regular and volunteer member of a rescue squad in North Carolina may direct traffic and enforce traffic laws and ordinances at the scene of or in connection with fires, accidents, or other hazards in connection with their duties as firemen or rescue squad members. These members are not, however, considered law enforcement officers.

Pennsylvania
Fire police in Pennsylvania are volunteer fire company members and are sworn in by the mayor, borough council president, township supervisor, or the local district justice of the peace. While they are usually under the direct control of the local police, they are under the Pennsylvania State Police if no local department is available. The first fire police officers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania were appointed in Meadville, Crawford County in 1896 and until the passage of Title 35 in 1941, had no greater authority than that which could be provided by their respective fire company and municipality.

However, the passage of the aforementioned bill granted Pennsylvania's special fire police officers the police power to provide protection. In addition, fire police were legally created to assist their fire department during emergency situations. Moreover, Title 35 was amended in 1949, 1959, and again in 1980 (Act 74, 388, 209, 122) to broaden the scope of authority of the fire police. In 1949, the law was amended (Act 388) to give fire police the power to act without fire company involvement if requested to do so by their municipality. In 1959, (Act 209) the law was again amended to allow fire police to use their police powers in any non-emergency public function conducted by or under the auspices of any volunteer fire company and the requirement of the request of the municipality was later removed from the law.

Furthermore, the provision that allows fire police to use their police power in non-emergency events was later amended to authorize these officers to provide police services for organizations other than volunteer fire companies if requested to do so by their respective municipality. In 1980 (Act 122 - current law), the Fire Police Act was amended to, among other things, make it clear that the act does not grant fire police officers the right or power to use firearms or other weapons while performing their duty.

In conclusion, these amendments widened the scope of authority of fire police in Pennsylvania to have limited police powers, and although they have no authority to make arrests, they do have the right to detain someone within reason.

Fire police may control the flow of traffic to ensure emergency vehicles have a quick, safe entrance and egress to an incident. They may halt traffic or detour traffic because of the situation and the dangers involved. They take orders from the police authority in charge. 
 
All fire police officers are sworn officers of the law and when on duty shall display a badge of authority and shall be subject to control of the chief of police of the city, borough, town or township in which they are serving, or if none, of a member of the Pennsylvania state police. Disobeying a fire police officer is the same as disobeying a police officer, sheriff's deputy, state constable or state trooper and assaulting one is a felony.

Current Pennsylvania fire police law is found in Title 35, Chapter 74, subchapters 7431 to 7437.

Vietnam
In Vietnam, Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department (FRPD) is under command of Ministry of Public Security.

Germany 
During the Third Reich the Feuerschutzpolizei (lit. 'Fire Protection Police') was a national firefighter unit formed by former municipal career fire departments and a part of the Ordnungspolizei. Every career firefighter was a police officer. Since 1945 the fire departments are under municipal administration again and strictly separated from police jurisdictions.

See also
Fire marshal
Women in firefighting

References

Firefighters
Firefighting in the United States
Law enforcement units
Firefighter ranks Frank Fowler Loomis (April 2, 1854 – September 19, 1936) was a nineteenth-century American businessman, blacksmith, fireman, engineer and electrician. He was a key manager and director in improving and developing the fire and police departments for the city of Akron, Ohio. Loomis was known for innovating new state of the art electrical-mechanical devices. He developed new style police and fire alarm systems for Akron. He designed and developed the world's first motorized police patrol wagon ("paddy wagon"). This vehicle was an exhibit in the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition. His electrical innovations and inventions were duplicated and put into use by other major cities in the United States. He established the "Loomis Award" for fire service valor and heroism.

Early life 
Loomis was born in Akron to Joseph and Elizabeth (née Taylor) Loomis on April 2, 1854. His father died when he was eight years old in 1862 so he then lived with an uncle at Wadsworth, Ohio, for the next seven years. Loomis attended the local Akron public schools when he grew up as a child. In early 1869, he worked on the Ohio & Erie Canal for a few months. Later that year he went to work at Merrill's pottery workshop for a while and after that took up the blacksmith's trade.

Mid life and career 
Loomis became a volunteer fireman in Akron's fire department in 1870. He slept at night at the fire station for potential fires and worked at his outside trade as a blacksmith during the day. His first assignment at the fire department was as a "call man" and would holler as an alarm to get volunteers during a fire. He became a paid fireman at Steamer No. 1 fire station in January 1871 when the current engineer had died.

In 1874, Loomis and a city mechanical engineer by the name of James H. Stanford built four fire alarm telegraph signal boxes at key businesses in Akron. These were located in the city at the Empire hotel, Buckeye Mower & Reaper works, Diamond Match factory, and the old Akron Iron company. It was soon realized that more alarm boxes were needed. The city, however, would not finance this needed improvement. Loomis, the other engineer, and the fire chief bought wire then from a defunct telegraph line to make these upgrade improvements. They wired fifteen miles in Akron to install additional new alarm boxes.

The system first used a telegraph key, but it was realized that the person that operated the key during the emergency could not give the correct signal during the hysteria of a new fire. Loomis then developed an alarm box that worked by turning a crank automatically when the door was opened, giving the correct signal. He patented the alarm box which sent this signal automatically.

The success of the fire alarm system spawned a similar system for the police department that was installed in 1885. Loomis designed an alarm box for police patrolmen requesting a wagon, additional policemen, or required firemen. It was first developed with a telegraph key before a new alarm box style with a pre-installed telephone replaced it. Loomis was promoted to the city's Chief Engineer in 1890 and held that position for 27 years.

Police patrol wagon 

In the late 1890s, Loomis started developing a horseless wagon for the police department. His invention in 1899 became the first motorized police patrol wagon in the world. The Collins Buggy Company built the carriage weighing  that cost $2,400. The police patrol is sometimes referred to as a "paddy wagon." Visitors came from all over the United States to inspect the vehicle and duplicates were made for the police departments of Cleveland, Chicago, and New York City.

The motorized police patrol wagon was an electric vehicle that weighed as a complete unit almost three tons. It came with an alarm gong to alert people it was coming. The police patrol vehicle had a headlight for use after sunset and had a stretcher so it could be used as an ambulance. It had three speeds and could go up to .  The carriage body of the wagon was built in 1899 by the Collins Buggy Company of Akron to specifications and drawings of Loomis.

The wagon had a seating capacity of twelve people and ran with two 4-horsepower electric motors. The storage batteries of the police wagon had to be charged every thirty miles. It was less expensive to maintain than a team of horses to pull a wagon to do the equivalent work. A special building was constructed to house the unique electric police wagon which consisted of a modern chief's office station. Akron patrolman John Dunkin made the first arrest with the police horseless transport automobile in 1899.

The electric carriage was taken by a mob in the 1900 Akron riot before being damaged and dumped into the Ohio & Erie Canal. It was recovered, repaired, and put into service for an additional seven years. The electric patrol wagon had done 226 police runs by 1901 and had traveled 200 miles in the process of escorting criminals to jail. It was in the Akron police force through 1907, traveling some  all total in its service. It was then sold out in 1908 as scrap for $25.

Loomis's vehicle was completely overhauled in 1913 by the Selle Company who purchased it in preparation for exhibition in the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The historical car of wooden wheels and solid rubber tires was a display of the International Expo. In 1917, the Selle Company who had originally supplied the vehicle's gears, dismantled it into parts that were used elsewhere.

Personal life 
Loomis married Barbara Grad of Akron on July 10, 1879. He retired from the Akron fire department in 1910. He died September 19, 1936. Loomis established by his will the "Loomis Award" for fire service valor and heroism. In the first 50 years of its existence only three firefighters received the award.

References

Sources

External links 

The Vintage News
First Police Car

1854 births
1936 deaths
Engineers from Ohio
American firefighters
19th-century American inventors
People from Akron, Ohio