In its earliest days, life and duty in the Bismarck Police department may have been nearly as wild and raucous as the frontier town the department was created to tame. Chiefs were hired and fired at a surprising rate, communications were chancy at best, duty was hazardous, crime was plentiful, but pay was not. Can you visualize local police responding to an emergency call by taxi cab? Happily, the department grew in size and sophistication and professionalism right along with Bismarck itself into the competent, reliable and deservedly respected entities of today.
The little known history of the Bismarck Police Department will be the main topic of the Bismarck Historical Society’s first program of the 2014-2015 Public Lecture Series which opens its season on Wednesday, September 10.
The program will start at 6:30 P.M. in Lecture Room A of the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library, located at 515 North Fifth Street. The event is open to the public, admission is free and reservations are not required. Call 223-3412 for further information.
Dr. Marilyn Snyder, former Curator of Education for the State Historical Society of North Dakota, will present the results of her research -- using archival records, photo collections and personal interviews, -- into the BPD’s history in a historical talk, illustrated by photographs, many of which have never been publicly exhibited before.