Parks Police

In the early 1940's, vandalism and other occurances began to increase in frequency in the parks. A man by the name of Fred Marshal, one of Hamilton's parks superintendents, was worried about these incidents. In 1943, Mr. Marshall decided to hire George James, the first Parks Policeman, and also the first man hired in this type of position to have only one arm, to patrol Gage Park to see if it would help solve the problem. Almost overnight, Gage Park became a safe place for women and children. Before his first season was over, George had so won the respect of the children of the fast developing district, that he had a thousand or more young assistants to tip him off when trouble started brewing. So pleased was Fred Marshall as the experiment progressed, that he encouraged Mr. James to expand his efforts. As the years rolled by, George managed to recruit men to patrol other parks in the city. These men shared his views and his dedication to park discipline. They were molded into a specially trained force, willing and able to perform their duties of constant vigilance. They were a select and loyal crew. Little misdemeanours which could grow into major crimes were nipped in the bud. Crime was not given a place to start.

The creation of a Hamilton parks police force had reduced destruction in Hamilton parks to negligible proportions. The idea behind a parks police force was to get on speaking terms with all children in the various parks, and if they did something wrong, to get them on a little thing so that they wouldn't have the opportunity to commit a larger offense. The men patrolled the park at irregular hours. They were special constables with all the powers of a regular policeman.

Policing the parks meant a 14-hour day which included detaining prowlers, drunkards, and other offenders until the city police could reach the scene and take over. Besides dealing with instances of damage to parks property, first aid cases, prowlers and investigation, the police were subject to calls at home, before their regular duty started at 2 p.m.. An 8-hour day was no longer possible, and they had neither Sundays, Saturdays, nor holidays as time off. Hamilton had an excellent parks police force - one which was the envy of many other communities in the country.

In 1955, the Board of Parks Management wished to be relieved of the cost of policing the city parks. They did not wish to disband the parks police because it would cost more to turn the work over the city police. However, the Board needed financial assistance.

By 1958, a member of the parks board suggested that the parks police force was becoming too expensive to maintain. The board also considered scrapping the force and turning responsibility over to the city police. There were mixed feelings about this because before there were parks police, the washrooms and other parks equipment were a mess.

In 1960, the parks board agreed in principle that the park police force should be maintained. The parks police knew each park thoroughly and were in a better position to keep a close check on habitual offenders. The trouble was that the city police did not want to take orders from parks police. There had been a clash of personalities.

The parks police had been only a three man force until 1956. Later, two men were hired for special jobs. These two men later left for better jobs in industry, and a third man left shortly after for a better job. In 1960, the parks board approved a motion that four men should be employed on a year-round basis. The board brought an end to the year-old controversy over the role of the parks police. The decision by the board meant that two more constables would be hired. In proposing a force of only four men, there would not be the building of another empire. The job of the parks police was to keep order in the parks, not to solve crimes. The parks police could obtain all the assistance they needed from the city police and other bodies if needed.

By 1963, the parks police was a 6 - man force. On June 28, 1963, the Hamilton Parks Police was disbanded following a fight by police personnel for more money, bargaining rights, a grievance procedure, and a car allowance. The six members of the force became "parks custodians" - and any reference to "police" in uniforms was ended. They were allowed to make only "civilian arrests" - their status as special constables was gone.

Many concerned citizens signed petitions to fight the disbandment of the parks police. A group of 24 citizens, representing the city's 8 wards, formed an executive committee to fight the disbanding.

The Parks Board couldn't transfer the parks police directly to the city force because the men couldn't meet the qualifications. Rather than just abandon the force completely, it was decided to make them park custodians with a slight pay increase. By making them park custodians, it was possible to assign them to full time positions in one park instead of having them there for only 10 minutes at a time. If they needed help, they had to call on the city police, as custodians did in other cities.

A permanent police patrol of Hamilton's parkland began May 15, 1967. The patrol was the first to be carried out on a regular basis since the 6 - man parks police force had been disbanded in June of 1963. Experienced men carried out the parks work and extra men filled in on regular duty. For eight hours each day, one motorcycle policeman inspected the parks in his area. Special attention was given to known trouble spots. The motorcycle policeman was in radio contact with dispatchers at Central Police Station in case trouble developed. At other hours, the parks were watched by regular patrols.

Up until 1979, the parks were patrolled by policemen in uniform. It was found that it didn't work because the people could see the policemen coming a mile away. It was decided to allow the officers to dress casually but wearing shorts was thought to be too casual. Every now and then they were called away to do something else where shorts would be inappropriate.