This history will go back approximately thirty years, sufficient to
demonstrate the huge differences in housing, cost, training, equipment
and philosophies.
Early
years
Thirty years ago the Chief of Police was a man named
Ralph Rines. He lived on Hale Hill on a farm with his family. His wife
Beulah served as department dispatcher, as there was a radio at their
home. She was on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and probably
did not see any pay for her efforts. It was said that when an officer
was out on a call she stayed right by the radio until that officer was
clear and safe again. It is hard to imagine the dedication of these two
people to the Department and to the Town of Swanzey. They were always
of good humor no matter who came to their door or called on the phone.
Years ago, at least in Swanzey, it was an accepted practice that if one
had a problem, one would go to the police officer’s home or call
him his residence.
However, there were never any prisoners processed at
the home; that was done at the town hall where records were kept. The
chief’s office at town hall was in a small room, shared with a lieutenant,
set off from a larger room used for booking purposes and other officer’s
desks.
There wasn’t a very formal process in hiring officers
back then. If a candidate looked honest, had a desire to work, and the
Chief liked him, well, then he was handed a badge and sworn in. Early
officers were not issued a weapon, uniform, cruiser or given any training
and could work for about $3.00 an hour. Usually, there were about twenty-four
officers on the roster.
The town was furnished with four GE, four channel radios
and Plectron monitors so the officers could monitor New Hampshire State
Police.
At that time NH State Police had a greater presence in
town than is usual today. The department was not full time and had a much
smaller population, the State Police were here much more in order to assist
the local police. They usually were given the major crimes and sexual
assaults because the town simply did not have the resources, training
or money to handle such complicated cases.
Officers were essentially on call 24 hours a day and
answered calls from their homes. The radio system mirrored the fire department
numbering system. Therefore, 27 numbers belonged to East Swanzey officers,
28 numbers belonged to Center officers and 43 numbers belonged to West
Swanzey officers. There were officers living in each sector of town and
they were called to handle the calls that were situated in their section.
In cases of accidents or calls that were more serious, officers responded
for back up from other sections, often at no pay.
Eventually a Friday and Saturday night patrol was started.
There were two officers in two cruisers; however, there was only one that
actually got paid. It continued in this manner for years. During these
patrols, at about 10:00 PM the officers would stop into one of the homes
and have coffee and refreshments, then go back out on the road.
It was not necessarily a quiet time, even though the
town and department were small. There was a mill in West Swanzey and a
bar on North Winchester Street. That was usually good for one rowdy night
a week. At that time there were groups of males that were burglarizing
homes, starting fires and just running wild.
Up until the 1970 era training was minimal and officers
were not required to be certified. Training amounted to the Court and
State police giving some classes that they felt were important. As time
went on, the State of NH made a decision to require officers to become
part-time certified if they wanted to work and took steps to provide classes
so that they could become part-time certified. Many officers took classes
at Keene State College in human behavior as well. The classes lasted for
ten weeks. All officers were expected to attend in order to continue working.
Much studying was done in groups around family kitchen tables. It was
a good time, as it made the officers feel better about themselves and
their jobs as they realized they were at a disadvantage with the lack
of training. It gave families a chance to see what was really involved
with being a policeman and it brought officers closer together.
During those years, when it was time for the Cheshire
Fair each year, the police department picked up its base station and multitudes
of paperwork and actually moved to the fairgrounds for the duration of
the fair. Usually a camper trailer was utilized and after the arena was
built, a room was utilized there. Most officers would actually take a
vacation from their regular jobs to work the fair. Some officers worked
as many as 120 hrs. during the fair. |