By Mike Simmons
On June 6, 1907, Frank Sanders took over as the Pensacola Police Marshal and Chief from previous Marshal Milton Frank. He immediately noticed no discipline or order for the officers to follow. He also noticed that the officers were assigned to work 12-hour days, seven days a week. This not only created irritability and unprofessionalism, but the officers’ effectiveness became apparent when they got tired. So he went to the city commission and proposed a new schedule. He recommended three 8-hour shifts every day. The officers got more time to rest and to spend with their families. That shift remained in effect until the 1980s.
After he had been in office for six months, the Chief issued a pocket-sized rules manual for each officer. The manuals were issued on January 22, 1908. There were many new rules for the officers to learn and to follow. A few unique ones are listed below….
- Police officers cannot leave town (on or off duty) unless in the pursuit of a fugitive, by direction of the chief, or by written permission from the Board of Public Safety.
- Harsh, violent, coarse, profane, or insolent language cannot be used.
- Officers must salute the mayor, the chief, a captain, or a sergeant every time they pass each other.
- No hanging around the entrance to any pool room, cigar stand, or other place of similar resort.
- All deadbeats must be removed from the department.
- Officers must be familiar with the location of all vaudeville performances and the homes of junk and second-hand dealers.
- Officers must report when premises are used contrary to good morals or public policy.
- An officer can be removed for leaving his beat without permission or for sitting down while on duty.
- An officer can be removed for not paying for his uniform.
- An officer can be removed for smoking on duty between 7 am and 7 pm.
Interesting…