Crime & Safety

What Makes the City of Berkeley Police Department Unique?

Sgt. Mary Kusmiss details the many historical accomplishments of the Berkeley Police Department in this week's Q&A.

Q: Is there anything that makes BPD Unique or different from other police departments?

Answer by Sgt. Mary C. Kusmiss S-6 BPD Public Information Officer.

A: The City of Berkeley Police Department (BPD) has a rich history that contributed to the foundations of many departments across California, the United States and the field of law enforcement as a whole.

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The first chief of police, August Vollmer, is considered by many to be the “father of modern law enforcement.”

At the very start, when Berkeley was incorporated in 1878, the city was policed and by an elected town Marshall. In 1905, August Vollmer was elected for the role. Then, in 1909, he was appointed as the City of Berkeley's first chief of police. Chief Vollmer organized BPD into a professional department and created what we now call a "Code of Ethics.”

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Chief Vollmer demanded a high level of honesty, efficiency, interest and hard work from his officers, and BPD's reputation in the law enforcement field was unmatched. His progressive thinking and use of new innovations in law enforcement became the foundation that BPD has been built upon and provided a legacy for a department that can be called "first in policing" in so many areas. Some of the early innovations of Chief Vollmer and the Berkeley Police Department were as follows:

  • In 1906, the department installed a basic records system (one of the first in the United States).
  • Also in
 1906, BPD installed the first Modus Operandi (MO) System.
  • 1907 saw the first use of scientific investigation by BPD (in the Kelinschmidt case, with the analysis of blood, fibers and soil).
  • In 1907, BPD’s police school was established. It included instruction from professors on such subjects as the law and evidence procedures. This was the first school of its kind in the world and had a far-reaching impact on training and education in law enforcement.
  • In 1910, Chief Vollmer was the first to put officers on bicycles.
  • In 1911, BPD organized the first Police Motorcycle Patrol.
  • In 1913, the department shifted to automobiles for patrolling.
  • In 1914,  BPD formed the first Juvenile Division in the U.S. Also that year, BPD began using radio communications between officers.
 
 
  • In 1916, Chief Vollmer established the first School of Criminology at the University of California, Berkeley. Chief Vollmer became a strong advocate of college educated police officers. He was the first police chief to require that officers get college degrees.
  • In 1918, BPD began using intelligence tests in the recruiting of police officers.
  • In 1920, the first lie detector instrument was developed at University of California and used by BPD.
  • In 1921,BPD began to use psychiatric screening in recruitment. Vollmer was the first chief to use the lie detector in investigations.
  • In 1923, the first Junior Traffic Police Program was established.
  • In 1924, BPD established one of the first single fingerprint systems. BPD was one of the first to use fingerprints to identify suspects.
  • In 1925, the first college trained woman officer in the U.S. — Elizabeth Gurnell Anderson Lossing — was appointed.

This is just an overview of the very first years of the Berkeley Police Department. BPD has established a historical society and is in the process of expanding its library of records and artifacts. We receive donations of items and seek out items of historical value to BPD constantly.

If you like history, a simple internet search of the City of Berkeley Police Department and August Vollmer will lead you to much, much more.


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