This is taken from Souvenir Book, St. Paul Police Benevolent Association, 1919, a 1919 publication.

The Dawn of the Twentieth Century

John J. O’Connor Becomes Chief of Police of St. Paul

Police Commission Is Appointed; Traffic Squad Is Organized; Ambulance Is Added To Department; Police Force Reaches Rating As One of the Finest In the Nation

Annus Domini 1900 — the dawn of the Twentieth Century, and the dawn of an undreamed era of prosperity for the Saintly City. Crime was checked, and as nearly stamped out as it is possible.

The previous session of the State Legislature had provided for the appointment of a police commission for the city of St. Paul, and Mayor Smith appointed the following as commissioners: R. T. O’Connor, L. L. May, William Foelsen, Daniel W. Lawler and Charles L. Haas. These men co-operated with Chief O’Connor and assisted him in placing the police department on an efficient basis.

Substations were placed in charge of lieutenants as follows: Central, Lieutenant Meyerding and Lieutenant Hanft; Rondo, Lieutenant Boerner; Ducas, Lieutenant Saxton; Margaret, Lieutenant Gebhardt, and Prior, Lieutenant Budy. Lieutenant Frank Horn appeared at all sessions of the police court as a representative of the police department.

In 1901, Chief O’Connor recommended the establishment of a traffic squad, and his recommendations met with the approval of the commissioners, with the result that the squad was established. A police ambulance was also purchased, to facilitate the removal of injured to hospitals. It was also used in all cases where an ambulance was needed, and the ailing one too poor to employ a private conveyance. Doctors Paul B. Cook and William R. Moore were the first two ambulance surgeons, one serving on the day shift and the other at night.

With additions to and changes in the department and board of commissioners, police affairs have moved along to the present date. Mayors, police commissioners, chiefs and officers have come and gone, but the routine has been practically the same.

Mayor Smith served until June 1, 1908, when he was succeeded by Daniel W. Lawler, who held office until 1910. Mayor Lawler was succeeded by Herbert P. Keller, who held office until June 1, 1914, when he in turn made room for Winn Powers. Powers was Mayor until June 1, 1916, when Mayor Irvin’s term began. At the expiration of Irvin’s term, Larry Hodgson, better known as “Larry Ho,” newspaperman and secretary to Mayor Irvin, was sent to office by an overwhelming majority, and Mayor Hodgson is his present title. The present Mayor has many friends, and if he has any enemies the writer has failed to meet even one of them. A man is best judged from the sentiments of his fellow workers toward him, and when he is loved and admired in the way Larry Ho’s old co-workers love and admire him, nuff sed. It will probably be “Governor” Hodgson some day.

The original police commission appointed by Mayor Smith was not changed until 1903, when P. R. L. Hardenburg was appointed in the place of Daniel W. Lawler, resigned. The next change was in 1907, when C. A. Wheaton took the position of Foelson. In 1910 F. N. Dickson succeeded Holt, and A. W. Lindeke succeeded Wheaton. F. M. Catlin was appointed in 1911 to succeed Dickson. R. T. O’Connor was reappointed and in 1912 Percy Vittum was appointed in place of O’Connor. In 1912 Charles D. Schurman succeeded Lindeke, and Harry Loomis was appointed to fill the vacancy created by F. M. Catlin’s appointment as chief of police. William Webster succeeded Hardenberg in 1913, and Thomas Spence succeeded L. L. May. With the advent of 1914, St. Paul had changed to a commission form of government, and Henry McColl, commissioner-elect, was appointed by Mayor Powers as Commissioner of Public Safety, which office does the work of the old police commission, and Commissioner McColl has held this office since.

Chief O’Connor remained the head of the police department until 1912, when he and John Clark, then assistant chief, resigned. Fred M. Catlin resigned from the police commission, of which he was a member, and took up the duties of the chief. Joseph Fielding assisted him. Fielding and Catlin both resigned, Martin Flanagan being appointed acting chief of police. Flanagan resigned during 1913 and Michael Gebhardt was chief until June 1, 1914, when Chief O’Connor was reappointed by Mayor Powers.

Once again was Chief O’Connor called upon to bring order out of chaos. The appointment of three different police chiefs within two years, to say nothing of chiefs of detectives and various plain clothes men who had received their positions because of their knowledge of precinct limits during an election campaign rather than their knowledge of the police business, for it is a business, had left things rather “up stage” in St. Paul.

Chief O’Connor soon weeded the chaff out of the wheat, or to be more exact, the chaff weeded itself out, for shortly after O’Connor’s return to his old office, sixteen resignations ran a relay race around central station with the chief’s desk their goal. And all of them reached goal.

Efficiency was once more the watch word in the cleaning out which the department got — the beau brummels and the Keystone police left and in their places real officers were substituted. Men who had proven their worth on the departments were advanced to plainclothes detectives; some of the old guard came back, and the department was composed of men who could and did stamp out crime, because they had served their lives at the game — had studied rogues gallery pictures until they knew a crook the minute they saw one — knew the methods employed by the various crooks, and were able to ferret out the perpetrators of crime from the methods employed in the carrying out of the crime.

So once more St. Paul became the nightmare of crooks. Known crooks who are not being searched for by departments of other cities come to St. Paul occasionally, tarry a while, and beat it to other climes. Their presence and identity is known as soon as they appear on the streets, and they fear the consequences if they “turn a trick” in St. Paul. The natural result is that while surrounding cities and towns suffer from raids of holdup men of both daylight and dark varieties, bank robbers, second-story men, yeggs, pickpockets, shop lifters and all manner of crooks, the property of St. Paul business men is practically safe — the life and limb of the St. Paul resident is secure, and peace reigns supreme in the Saintly City.