Detroit police: On patrol since 1865

Detroit's first police patrol wagon is shown in an undated photo.

Distinctive uniforms were worn by the bicycle policemen of the 1890s. These terrors of the scorching fraternity were Joe Whitty, left, and Charlie Stewart. The photo was taken in front of Elmwood Station in 1895. Detroit had been the bicycle-making capital of the world before becoming the auto capital.

A police station was established on Belle Isle in 1889. Sergeant Cahoon, front row extreme left, was in charge.

Detroit Police Officer Frank Schnell on his motorized bike, circa 1910.

This may be the city's first police car. It appears to be a Packard from around 1909 or 1910, purchased for the department by Frank Croul. The officer standing in the backseat is identified as Burton Girardin, grandfather of Ray Girardin, who was police commissioner in the 1960s.

The first Detroit police station, on Woodbridge, is seen in an undated photo.

Detroit's first police headquarters was on a triangular plot of ground at Bates, Farmer and Randolph streets.

Policewomen take target practice in 1928. The Detroit Police Department hired the first female officer in the United States, Marie Owen, in 1893.

Two young women appear to be led away by a uniformed police officer from a swimming area at the foot of Alter Road in Detroit as a group of boys looks on. The photo dates from the 1920s.

One of the first police cars equipped with radio is shown off by Patrolman Walter Stick. The police station was "KOP." According to the Detroit Historical Society, the Detroit police department was one of the first in the country to use automobiles for patrol, and in 1922 became the first to use radio dispatch technology.

In 1928, a Detroit police officer operated the Stop-Go sign manually on downtown Woodward. As early as 1916, one-fourth of the entire Detroit police force — 250 officers — was used for managing traffic.

Detroit Police information booth at Campus Martius, 1935.

A line of Detroit mounted police, led by Sgt. Swantek, gallops across an open area on Belle Isle in August 1933.

The Detroit Police Motorcycle Division poses with 60 new motorcycles on Belle Isle on Sept. 14, 1937.

Members of the Detroit Police Motorcycle Division go through their paces at the state fairgrounds in this undated photo.

An officer instructs a trainee on the gun range at police training school in this undated photo.

Little Billy Stevens, 5, was lost, but gets a helping hand from patrolman William Lynn of the Petosky Station at Edgewater Park on June 28, 1937.

A trainee at the Sergeants Training School has a go at the rowing machine. Date unknown.

The Albert Kahn-designed Detroit Police headquarters at 1300 Beaubien St. is shown in 1937. The building served the police from 1923 to 2013, when the police and fire departments moved to new headquarters near the Lodge Freeway.

A uniformed police officer stands in a doorway and watches as a group of children open Christmas presents from the Old Newsboys in December 1938.

Detroit Police Officer Reyniear Staats addresses students in the Chalk Talk school programs at Nichols School in Detroit in 1940.

A friendly policeman allows children to swim in the fountain at Grand Circus despite a posting that warns otherwise, July 25, 1941.

Police remove a woman picketing outside Briggs Stadium in 1939.

Uniformed police officers form a line in front of mostly female telephone workers during a strike against AT&T in Detroit in April 1947.

The Detroit Police Commandos' 12-man riot squad is deployed for action in V-formation, July 15, 1948.

The Detroit Police Motorcycle Division at the State Fair, undated.

The Detroit Police Band and clowns, undated.

Police practice on the pistol range, undated.

Police at the site of an auto accident, undated.

A Detroit Police Commando Squad led by Inspector James Hoy deploys on July 21, 1949.

Police test lie detectors in 1952.

Instructor Herbert White demonstrates frisking to Detroit police cadets, March 1, 1954.

Detroit patrolmen Frank Sanders, John Cunningham and Charles Rehmer from Vernor Station hold a strange device called "the thing," in January 1954.

The switchboard at Detroit Police headquarters in February 1964.

These policemen brought messages to Detroiters on their three-wheel motorcycles. Seven of the 54 message-bearing cycles are shown in September 1958, with riders Norman Flaugher, left, Raleigh Bolio, William Tighe, Marin Andrews, Glenn Eggert, Albert Dinkns and Joes Bugajski.

Palmer Park bicycle patrolmen Richard Stokes and Joseph Syfax, both of the 12th Precinct, ride on July 29, 1962.

Protesters demonstrate outside Detroit Police headquarters on July 13, 1963.

Detroit Police commandos struggle with a demonstrator on April 23, 1965.

Police on 12th Street in Detroit watch the rioting break out July 23, 1967 following a raid on a blind pig after-hours club.

Police arrest a man on 12th Street in Detroit on July 23, 1967 during the riots.

Police in full riot gear hit the streets of 12th and Clairmount in Detroit during the 1967 disturbances. The violence was too much for the local police, who were reinforced by Army and National Guard troops.

Detroit police salute as mourners arrive for the funeral of police officer Jerome J. Olshove July 28, 1967. He was the only policeman killed during the riots.

Patrolman William McCue examines weapons confiscated during the riots in the police headquarters gym, July 27, 1967.

Dorothy Knox shoots at the Detroit Police Pistol Range on Oct. 3, 1970.

A Detroit Police Tactical Mobile Unit, July 13, 1972.

Detroit Police Harbor Master diver Lt. Chas Enhers, Jan. 26, 1972.

Steven Schwartz, 7, and Detroit Police patrolman Raymond Smith chow down on July 30, 1972.

The short and the tall of it: Detroit Police rookies Akio Miyamoto and John Matchulat, April 15, 1975.

Detroit police cadet Harold Terry drills at Chadsey High School, July 23, 1975.

Detroit Police Officer Brenda Miliken, 26, was one of the first 13 women in the department's history to be assigned to regular scout car patrols. She's seen here on Oct. 4, 1974.

A mobile mini police station, 1978.

On April 21, 1981, inspector Billie Willis was the first female precinct commander in Detroit police history, at the Palmer Park Precinct.

Detroit Police take position on Hendrie Street where a gunman was barricaded on Jan. 8, 1975.

Mayor Coleman Young, left, spoke to 97 laid-off Detroit police officers who were reinstated on Aug. 26, 1981, at the Criminal Justice Institute.

Officer Michael Moreland, left, and retired officer George Patak, who restored this 1963 Plymouth police vehicle, chat during the Detroit Police Department's 150th anniversary in the "Blue & Silver Ball" gala at Cobo Center in Detroit on Feb. 27, 2015.

Members of the Metro Detroit Police and Fire Pipes and Drums corp perform during a memorial for fallen Detroit Fire Sergeant Sivad Johnson, in front of the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters, in Detroit, August 31, 2020. Johnson died while assisting in a water rescue on Belle Isle.

Protesters are taken down by Detroit police after violating curfew, which they did on purpose in order to get arrested, on Gratiot Avenue near Outer Drive in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.

Protesters are taken down by Detroit police after violating curfew, which they did on purpose in order to get arrested, on Gratiot Avenue near Outer Drive in Detroit, Michigan on June 2, 2020.

A bloodied young man sits after being secured by police personnel after protestors breached the 8 p.m. curfew on Gratiot Avenue near Outer Drive in Detroit, Michigan on June 2, 2020.

Police officers launch tear gas canisters at protesters as they march down Michigan Avenue in Detroit on May 31, 2020, during a protest over the death of George Floyd.

Lena Harbali, of Dearborn, stands in front of a line of police officers with red paint on her hands at the Detroit Police Safety Headquarters, in Detroit May 31, 2020 during a protest over the death of George Floyd.

Detroit police chief James Craig holds up a railroad spike during a press conference June 1, 2020, that he claimed was hidden in a box of food to be used as a weapon against the police during protests in the city Sunday evening.

From left, Detroit police officer Mark Williams takes the temperature of officer Marcos Rosario as Rosario reports for his shift at the Detroit police department 4th Precinct in Detroit on April 14, 2020. The police department has implemented various safety measures due to the coronavirus, such as taking the temperatures of officers arriving for duty and also at the end of their shift.