That the last month of the year calls for “Firsts in Policing”!!
Let’s start with the 1850s—when the first multi-shot pistol went
into mass production, and was adopted by the Texas Rangers, and,
thereafter, police departments nationwide. Also in the 1950s,
San Francisco implemented one of the earliest uses of systematic
photography for criminal identification (smile for the camera!).
In 1862 on June 17, inventor W. V. Adams patented handcuffs that
used adjustable ratchets—the first modern handcuffs. Most
handcuffs before then were “one size fits all” and caused pain
to bigger boned prisoners and potential freedom to small-wristed
detainees. Next, in 1877, Albany, New York began use of the
telegraph by fire and police departments, followed closely in
1878 when the telephone came into use in police precinct houses
in Washington, D.C. One year later, in 1888, Chicago became the
first U.S. city to adopt the Bertillon system of identification.
Alphonse Bertillon, a French criminologist, applied techniques
of human