l(f Police Forte Modernized To Handle City's Needs
I, The Klamath Falls Police De
parunent has more than doubled
jii in itva mail u years aue
to the increasing complexity o(
., providing 24-hour police protec
tion for 20,000 people.
The cop leisurely strolling alongl
J' his beat has vanished with zoot
suits and hula hoops. Since 1958,
,' Klamath Falis policemen have
covered their beats in patrol cars
This method lias proven much
more efficient.
The first records kept by city
police were begun in 1914. A rec-
ord of arrests and horse sales
was maintained by the police de
partment. With the laws less for
malized man they are today, a
variety of charges appeared in
the early records. One Chinese
. gentleman was charged with op
erating an opium den and another
citizen for "using profane lan
guage in front of a lady."
Chief Charles A. Howard joined
:, the department as a recruit in
1943. He was promoted to ser
fs' geant in 1948 and named chief 10
" years later in a department reor-
.... ganization. He replaced Orville
Hamilton. Patrolman Fred Olin
has been on the force longer than
anyone 27 years.
Klamath Falls was once rcgard
' ed as a "wide open" city but
that situation has changed in re
" cent years. The police department
- has been expanded and appoint-
:" merits are made on the basis of
mental and physical ability. A
new building was constructed in
r 1952 to serve as a combination
" office headquarters and city jail.
The local department is as mod
era and up-to-date as any in the
i state. It is linked to other city
and stale police offices by means
of a statewide teletype network.
, City police attend several schools
each year to improve their skills.
r. It costs almost $160,000 a year
" , to operate the Klamath Falls Po-
, lice Department, but the cost to
the law abiding taxpayer is small
;r Almost half of this amount comes
from parking meter revenue
Fines and bail forfeitures are also
applied by the city to the police
department budget.
t The orgjnization of the police
department is similar to a mili
tary chain of command. Two lieu
: tenants, R. N. iBudi Adkins and
the force is divided into three
platoons, each headed by a ser
geant. The platoon sergeants are
Jim Broun. Odell Olson and John There are three detective
Kennard. The platoons rotate on geants, three policewomen and
the three different shifts of the four meter maids. Sgt. Oscar Ger-j
day: 12 midnight to 8, a.m., Sieve is the identification officer
a.m. to 4 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 12 while sergeants Dennis Lilly and
midnight. iWalter Conrady handle bad checks
The heart of the platoon patrol and other types of investigation
Club Boosts
Gun Handling
Today's Klamath Falls Rifle
and Pistol Club, its accommodat
ing indoor range and the interest
shown in target shooting by nu
merous Klamath Falls youngsters,
all had beginnings locally in an
organization known as the Peli
can Rifle Club, says Maurice
Athey, one of the most promin
ent marksmen in the area.
Athey is currently busying him
self in work with future sharp
shooters as are Bud Adkins and
George Mallcy.
Athey recalls vividly the prog
ress of the sport in Klamath Falls.
In his recollection the Pelican Ri
fle group used nothing but large
bore (30 caliber) on an outdoor
range, the indoor or "gallery"
shooting not becoming popular un
til 19.15 or 1936.
When the "gallery" shoot
moved in, the Pelicans switched
to the indoor shooting using re
duced loads in cast bullets and
printed their own targets to simu
late outdoor firing conditions.
Shortly, the club's charter was
changed to the American Legion
Rifle Club and the group utilized
the old Long Bell commissary
which was located on the present
site of Radio KLAD.
When this location hceame in
convenient in 1939, the club moved
its operation to the old armory
on Main Street, and changed the
size of ammunition used from the
30 caliber to 22.
The scarcity of ammunition and
other problems made it hard to
keep the club operative during
the World War II years, however
a nucleus of real "hugs" con
tinued its interest and reactivat
ed the activity as soon as the
war was over.
Thus was born, in 1946, t h e
Klamath Falls Rifle and Pistol
Club.
When the Naval Air Base at
Kingsley Field was decommis
sioned the club was offered the use
of one of the barracks provided
the building would be moved to
make way for the airport termin
al. The membership bent its backs
to this project under severe
weather conditions in the early
part of 1950 and for the next five
years the club saw its most ac
tive participation.
They competed against Malin.
Langell Valley. Dorris, Chiloquin,
among other clubs, as well as vy
ing in the Cal-Ore Pistol League
made up of clubs from Coos Bay.
Mcdford. Roseburg. Ashland, Ma
lin. Dorris. Langell Valley, and
even one from so far away as
Anchorage. Alaska.
In 1956 the group organized a
junior program to be directed
by Athey, Jess Freitas and Axel
Jacobson.
Soon the club felt strong enough
financially to consider building
its own indoor range and began
nrk on an extremely modern
range at 508 Adams Street, its
present home.
Archie Huff, work directly under to the scene of a crime or anlclerical duties and deal with wom-lforce as vacancies occur. Potcn-
Chief Howard. The remainder of accident within minutes. en prisoners. tial policemen are subjected to a
Specialists are commonplace In The meter maids are a relative- battery of civil service examina
modern police work and the lo- lv new innovation. By working ex- tions and a rigorous physical test
cal department is no exception. ;clusively on parking violations. There are goner.-.llv only one or
system is the four beats in the
city. One car drives each beat
and, by means of a two-way ra
dio system, other cars and addi
tional officers can be summoned
Policewomen on the force are;
Bernice Mattson, Ava Becton and
Dorothy Kirkpatrick. They handle
PAGE 21-C
thev leave beat officers free to
concentrate on more serious types
of crime. Since the advent of the
meter maids in the summer of.
1958. revenues fiom parking vi
olations have increased drastical
ly. The meter maids are Betty
Schuldheisz. Jody Kitchen, Peggy
Glasscock and Betty Daniels
New officers are added to the-problems.
two successful our,g men out ot
a total of 20 or 25 applicants.
Progress brines problems in
many areas, among them law en
forcement. Chief Howard believes,
however, that with continuing pub
lic support and respect for the
law, that the Klamath Falls Po
lice Department can cope with the
1IKRA1.D AND NEWS. Klamath Falls. Ore.
Sundav. February 26, lWil
r-: . " . ..'! I . . f . l(U
THIS SMILING GROUP ii the Klamath Falls Police De
partment, charged with maintaining law and order in
the city. This picture was taken in front of police head
quarters at 425 Walnut Street. Front row, from left, are
Bernice Mattson, Betty Schuldheisz, Lt. R. N. (Bud)
Adkins, Sgt. Oscar Gerleve, Sqt. Dennis Lilly, Juvenile
Officer Ray Howard, Chief Charles A. Howard, City
Manager G. S. Vergeer, Jody Kitchen and Peggy Glass
cock. Second row, from left, are Carl Jennings, Victor
Murdock, Norman Mitchell, Grady Gaylord, Sgt. Jim
Brown, Sgt. John Kennard, Sgt. Odell Olson, Phil Chlo
pek, Gerald Flocchini and Darrell Hilliker. Top row,
from left, Ava Becton, Al Bianconi, Melville Bud I
Richardson, Fred Olin, Floyd Pierce, Jim O'Neil, Rex
King and Gordon Ramsey. Not pictured are Lt. Archie
Huff, Sgt. Walter Conrady, Charles Shipman, Betty
Daniels, Vernon Jones and Dorothy Kirkpatrick.
mm
1908 to 1961
A Private, Non-Profit Corporation Protecting
From Fire Va Million Acres of Timberland
That Are The Present And Future Economy of
The Klamath Basin!
I J 1 - ' V " II' r ' i
During the critical fire season 'of each year, (i0 employes, manning 15 forest lookouts,
8 guard stations and operating many pieces of fire equipment will protect 1,250,000
acres of our forests. The annual budget for this big job will run $282,000, with $182,000
of this going into payroll.
The equipment includes 22 pickups, 10 pumpers, 2 Cats and their transports, such as
the one pictured above, and 2 road graders. Each vehicle, lookout and guard station
is linked to KFPA headquarters by radio, from where all work is correlated. Lately,
aircraft have been used extensively for patrol, and in the past season, the use of Bor
ate dropped from a Liston Aircraft PBY has proven most successful in helping to con
trol fires.
In the past in years. KFPA has handled approximately "n fires per
year. 55 "o of these were caused by lightning and 45 of these vere
man-caused fires, but . . . 9.1 of the total area burned was by the
man-caused fires.
Pictured at left is the lookout tower overlooking Klamath Falls on
Hog's Back Ml. This is one of 15 towers now in use that ate manned
at least 5 months out of each year. These tower operators are in con
stant touch with KFPA headquarters and KFPA equipment as needed.
We wish to thank the many private citizens, lumber companies and
logging operators who gave their time, effort and money in controlling
and reporting fires over the years. Without this cooperation we ould
not have been able to save many acres of valuable timbef each year.
KEEP OREGON GREEN
Klamath Forest Protective Association
P.O. Box 272
Weed-Aihlond Junction
Ph. TU 4-3282 or TU 4-3217
FDNE
FURNI
TUR
W P
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fix
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Ant CO'
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