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HISTORY |
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| Please note: The following comments are only introductory remarks into an historical perspective of the Stillwater Police Department (SPD). Please check back again, as we construct this page, for a more complete historical record of our Department.
Prior to statehood in 1907, Federal Marshals out of Guthrie, a city Marshal, and a night watchman provided protection for Stillwater citizens. As a matter of fact, it was not until the late 1920’s that plans were put into place for Stillwater’s first Police Department. In 1929, M.J. Ketch was hired to run the new Department. The building itself was located between 8th and 9th streets in an alley just north of the Opera House. (This would be just south of Wright’s Lawn and Garden Center at the southwest corner of 8th and Lewis). The building housed two jail cells, with bunk beds in each cell.
Of course, this was a time before the availability of radio communications. Therefore, when someone called the police station for help, the dispatcher would flip a switch, which in turn activated a red light located at the corner of 9th and Main. The on-duty officer would then call in to find out what the trouble was. Therefore, the red light stayed on until the officer on patrol called into the station. The calls were made from one of three wooden "lock boxes" which housed telephones that were hooked up directly to the police station. In 1939, the Police Department was combined with other City offices and moved into one
building at 723 S. Lewis, where they are located to this day. |
 In 1941, Stillwater became the 9th Police Department in the state to
obtain a 2-way radio system. This first system ran on 2450 kilocycles (compared to the
multi-channeled/repeater system we currently operate). At this time, the Stillwater Police
Department (SPD) had two patrol cars, both containing 2-way radios. Of course, no
walkie-talkies were available, so up through the mid 1950’s, red lights were still
used to alert officers on foot patrol that a call-for-service was waiting for them.Some other red-letter dates: 1968 - Installation of the Central Oklahoma Law Enforcement Teletype System (COLETS) |
 An important perspective
to note is that the Stillwater Police Department keeps current with the most up-to-date
advances in technology, training, and investigative tools and techniques, thereby
maintaining the high level of service that the citizens of Stillwater have come to expect.
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By 1936,
Stillwater’s population had grown to about 7,000 people. Therefore, the City employed
two watchmen, one for the day and one for the night, with starting salaries of $115 per
month. Each "officer" carried a revolver and two night sticks.
