August Vollmer has long been lauded for the innovations he brought to policing. But revelations about some of his beliefs are making people reexamine his legacy.
August Vollmer
Posted inCrime & Safety
Berkeley police treasure found in Texas ‘mystery box’
A priceless artifact from Berkeley police history turned up in a $5 box of books at an estate sale in Texas. How did it come home to Berkeley?
Posted inCrime & Safety
Major new biography, exhibit on August Vollmer, Berkeley’s first police chief
August Vollmer is known as the “father of modern policing.” A new exhibit and in-depth book will allow more people to learn his story.
Posted inArts
Made in Berkeley: ‘Officer 444,’ featuring August Vollmer
Born in New Orleans in 1876, August Vollmer and his family moved to Berkeley in 1890, where he helped run a supplies store and organize the North Berkeley Volunteer Fire Department before being elected police marshal in 1905. Vollmer remained in office (later as police chief) until 1932, his tenure interrupted only by a brief, […]
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Berkeley Police Department’s past continues to influence the officers of today
On Wednesday, Berkeleyside published the first part of a two-part interview with Berkeley’s new Police Chief, Michael Meehan. Today we give you Part II. Deep in the bowels of the Berkeley Police Department is an L-shaped hallway that is a shrine to the department’s past. There is an old lie detector encased in a wooden […]
Posted inCity, Crime, Crime & Safety
Remembering August Vollmer, the Berkeley police chief who created modern policing
As Berkeley gets ready to swear in Michael K. Meehan on Thursday as the city’s new police chief, perhaps it is appropriate to take a look back at the city’s very first chief. After all, he is credited with modernizing American policing. Not many people know about August Vollmer, but when he was alive he […]