About the Huntington Park Police Department
The City of Huntington Park was founded in 1906 and from it's inception, has
had it's own Municipal Police Department. Originally a one man Department with a City Marshal, the department grew as did
the City. Following World War One, the size of the Department increased to a Marshal and four Deputies. The new Deputies wore
their Army uniforms as Police uniforms.
The Policemen remained Deputies until 1932. The title "Deputy" was changed
to "Policeman" in 1933. Following the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933, where many buildings in Huntington Park were damaged,
the Huntington Park Police Department was built on the Southeast corner of Gage and Pacific. During this period, the majority
of the police officers on the Department were motorcycle traffic officers. Their uniforms were tan while the regular Patrol
Officers began wearing blue. When a motorcycle officer was hired on, he was issued a badge and a hat badge. He provided his
weapon, uniform and motorcycle.
Police cars didn't have police radios so several "Police Call Boxes were positioned
around the City. Whenever the station received a call for assistance, the Police Operator would activated a red light which
was atop several tall towers throughout the City. The Policeman, on patrol, would need to routinely look for the tower light
and when seeing the light, he would call the station from one of the many call boxes. This system was discontinued in the
mid-1940's when the Department was equipped with car radios and a main station radio however, the call boxes remained until
the mid 1970's.
During World War Two, many of our Policemen volunteered for Military service.
The Department supplemented the patrol force and the Civil Defense Force with Home Volunteers. These Volunteers wore a "Reserve
Police" armband over their civilian clothing while serving their assignments. In 1943, the Huntington Park Police began wearing
Police Patches on their uniform shirts. The Patrol Officer's patch depicted "Electrical Bolts" representing the newly equipped
police cars with radios. The Motorcycle Officer's patch depicted the 'winged Wheel" of the Motor Officer Following World War
Two, the Department retained many of the war time volunteers and trained them as Reserve Officers.
The Reserve Officers were issued their own style of badge, however, they wore
the same patch as the regular officers. The new Civic Center was built in 1950 and while the Police Facility was being completed
for the following year, the temporary Police Department was installed in the basement of the City Hall. The jail cells are
still in the basement of City Hall today.
The Police "Justice Building" was opened in 1951. This building contained the
Police Department, Jail, District Attorney's Office, Public Defenders and a Court Room.
To coincide with moving into a new Police Facility, the Department issued new Police Patches, a new badge, and new
uniform regulations.
Dark Blue long sleeve shirts were worn from October 1st until May 1st. The
Summer uniform was a short sleeved light blue shirt. The patches are the same design as are worn today. In 1976, an order
was made for additional patches and a numbering error resulted in a light blue police patch. These patches were issued as
replacement patches for the Summer uniform, however, they were not well received by the officers Ironically, soon afterwards,
the Huntington Park Police Officers Association convinced the Chief to discontinue the light blue shirts.
huntingtonparkpd.org
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