Character And Courage A Brief History of the Dallas Police Department

A Natural Crossroads

Dallas has been a land of opportunity since men and

women with an affinity for high hopes and hard work

came upon it in the 1800s.

Set along the trails of Native Americans, on the rich

blackland prairie and broad open floodplain of the

‘River of Canoes,’ as the Trinity River was called early on, John Neely Bryan saw opportunity all around him.

People, land, and possibility.

The wide open space and temperate climate lent themselves to growing cotton and grain, to trade, industry, and

local development. By 1841, Bryan’s designs on Dallas were being built, from a courthouse square outward, as

the Dallas we know began to take shape.

For some, Dallas has brought prosperity, for others a home and honest work, for others still, the gleam of easy

pickings. But it was the insistence of the early settlers on law and order that allowed the frontier settlement to

become a city still offering opportunity 200 years later.

Town Governance and Law

In 1856, as the frontier population grew to 678 people, the Texas State Legislature granted Dallas its first

Charter and citizens elected the town’s first mayor and marshal. Andrew Moore served as Dallas first town

marshal. And it’s entire police force!

Moore was succeeded by M.M. Thompson, who served for one single year, after which Moore served again

until the general Incorporation Act, in August 1858. William Moon was then elected and provided policing for

Dallas until the Civil War.

Federal Policing

For the duration of the Civil War and for several years beyond, the Federal government assumed control of

Dallas city affairs, including its policing. The conflict between self-governance and national rule was tolerated,

at best, the conflicts escalating in the years following the war. By 1872, Dallas resumed control of its own law

enforcement, just in time for the convergence of the major north-south www.dallaspolicemuseum.org

Houston Texas Central Railroad and east-west Texas and Pacific Railroad lines in Dallas, paving the way for it

to become a regional center of transportation, banking, education and more.

From Settlement to City

Having largely avoided the destruction and dislocations of war and, now more accessible by rail lines, Dallas

once again offered hope and opportunity to many. In fact, the population of Dallas increased from 3,000 to

7,000, in a single year, bringing new and complex challenges to a city still policed by a single Marshal.

From the mid-1870s until 1881, a handful of different men served as city marshals while the Dallas City

Council wrestled with charter revisions, including the scope and size of its policing should be. Still serving as

lone city marshals during those years were F. Nichols, George Campbell, June Peak, Capt. W.F. Morton and J.C.

Arnold, each elected to their duties.

First Dallas Police Department

The very roots of today’s Dallas Police Department were ultimately planted in 1881, with the public election of

its first Chief of Police, James Carter Arnold, previously its city marshal. The new city charter provided for both

a chief and police manpower and so, with 15 uniformed officers, Dallas had its first Police Department.

Issued blue wool uniforms and badges, the police force patrolled the 2.5 miles of town on foot, seven days a

week on twelve-hour shifts, using lanterns for night time patrols. Chief Arnold kept his officers busy and

visible, soon putting them on horseback for more efficiency. By 1889, the population had grown to 35,000,

Arnold’s force to 24, and his knowledge of the inadequacies of his manpower, equipment, and facilities clearly

outlined in his annual report to the City Council.

Chief Arnold served Dallas for 17 years before an untimely hunting accident ended his life in February of 1898.

A respected and beloved man, Chief Arnold is still praised today for the leadership and vision with which he

built the Dallas Police Department. Even today, Arnold’s principles of personal integrity, service above self and

protecting the public’s trust resound throughout the ranks of the Dallas Police Department.

www.dallaspolicemuseum.org