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Broadview Police Department . . . 1914 to 1964

On January 22, 1914, Broadview was incorporated as a Village and Herman Radtke was appointed Village Marshall.  Mr. and Mrs. Radtke lived at 2313 South 21st Avenue throughout their lives. The home is at present occupied by their daugther and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Breseman, The Village was sparsely populated so the Marshalls' services were not to often required, and he probably did not receive any compensation for his service at the beginning. The first Village Hall and court was located in the 1900 block on 14th Avenue. The building had been used for a school, and was taken down when the Roosevelt School was built at the same location.

There was no communications, electricity, or public transportation in the Village. Whenever the Marshall’s services were needed, he either walked or used his own horses. Village meetings and court were held in the school building until 1916 when a new Village Hall was built at 16th Avenue and Roosevelt Road, where the present municipal building now stands.

Herman Radtke, the first Marshall of Broadview is pictured to the right.

In May of 1918, Marshall Radtke received an assistant, when Joseph "Indian Joe" Huszar was appointed motorcycle policeman, at a salary of seventy-five dollars per month. Marshall Radtke tendered his resignation in November of 1918, and Joseph Huszar received the appointment; at the same time he was also appointed health officer, and his salary increased to ninety-five dollars per month.

Photo from Broadview Golden Jubilee -- 1914 to 1964

His duties as health officer were to place quarantine signs on homes where a resident had developed a contagious disease. He also was required to remove the sign on orders from the health doctor. After removal of the sign, he would spray the home with a strong smelling eye burning liquid; this was called fumigating the home. When an epidemic occurred the health officer was required to watch so no one entered or went out of homes under quarantine. Needing assistance for this, Alfred Rogers was appointed a Special Deputy. His duties were to ride a bicycle throughout the Village to see that no one left these homes. If you by chance entered a home under quarantine you would probably be required to live there until the health doctor permitted you to leave.

Marshall Huszar patrolled the streets riding an Indian Motorcycle throughout most of his career. This is thought to be the reason he received the nick name of Indian Joe. He was on call twenty-four hours, and could be seen riding his motorcycle almost any hour of the day or night watching for traffic violations, etc. Speed limits in those days were usually between twelve to twenty miles per hour, so it was not to hard to exceed the speed limit. When you did, Marshal Huszar more often than not would apprehend you ... and perhaps a bit too zealously.  See May 1930--Exciting Times which contains some new clippings in which Huszar had been indicted for graft.

In the period between 1918 and 1921, the following were appointed Deputy Marshalls to assist the Marshall, only when assigned to special duties:

Also appointed to serve as Deputy Marshall at the Government Hospital Grounds, formerly the Speedway Race Track located near Roosevelt Rd. between First Avenue and Ninth Avenue were George Walter, Charles Shank and Walter Peckat.

In October, 1920, Nick DeLuca was appointed a Motorcycle Policeman to assist Marshall Huszar, at a salary of sixty dollars per month. It was also decided at this time to install electric lights in the Village Hall, and install a telephone at the Chief’s desk. Marshall Huszar’s residence at the time of his appointment was at 14th Avenue and Harvard Street. He later built a house south of Roosevelt Road on 18th Avenue.

One of the highlights of his career occurred when he investigated a vehicle parked on Cermak Road near 12th Avenue. On approaching the vehicle, the occupants began firing at him with pistols; he returned their fire killing one, wounding another, and one escaped. Marshall Huszar resigned in August, 1926.

Andrew E. Borg became Village Marshall August 26, 1926. Marshall Borg was the only full time Officer, his only assistance came from part-time deputy Marshalls. The village Marshall used his own motorcycle for patrol duty until September, 1926, when the village reimbursed him with $175.00 for the cycle. At this time the Village also purchased a 1926 Model T Ford at a cost of $469.00. This was the first automobile used for patrol duty in the village. In 1930 the village purchased a Model A Ford sedan at a cost of $619.00 to replace the Model T Ford. At this time use of the motorcycle was gradually discontinued.

Marshall Borg served until May of 1930 when he left office under "exciting" circumstances.  See May 1930--Exciting Times. Upon Borg's departure Forest F. Coburn became Village Marshall, Jasper Bollow served under him as assistant Marshall.

Marshall Coburn held this office until January 1931. He resigned to campaign for Village President and was elected to this office in April 1931. On the resignation of Marshall Coburn, Arthur Popp was appointed Marshall and Officer Bollow remaining as Assistant Marshall. This was for only a short period.

Marshall Popp resigned in April 1931. Harry Schroeder replacing him as Marshall and Officer Bollow remaining as assistant Marshall.

Throughout the years, communications between the Village Hall and the squad car on patrol varied. In the early years of the department, there were no desk men. When the Marshall went on patrol he would lock the doors of the Village Hall, and could not be reached until he returned or you came across him on patrol. As the population increased, a custodian was hired to answer the police phone, do the janitorial work and contact the squad on patrol when needed.

The first type of communication between squad car and station was a red light bulb on top of a flag pole placed on the roof of the Village Hall.  This light was turned on when the desk man received a call for the police and could be seen from any part of the village.  On seeing the light the squad would return to the station to be advised of the nature of the call.

In May of 1931, the Village purchased a radio receiving unit to be installed in the squad car, the system of communication to be a direct phone line to the Chicago Police transmitting station. When a complaint was received, Chicago would be called to send the message to the squad on patrol, at the same time the light atop the Village hall would also be turned on.

This system was used until Maywood installed a transmitting station.  Arrangements were made to use their station instead of Chicago for our communications by radio.

In May 1933, the Village purchased a Plymouth sedan to replace the Model A Ford at a cost of $445.00. By this time use of the motorcycle had been discontinued.

Harry Schroeder tendered his resignation as Marshall in December 1933. His assistant Officer Bollow also resigned and Fred Rogers was then appointed Marshall and Harry Pager assistant Marshall. Both men served until April of 1934. On their resignation Harry Schroeder again became Marshall for a short period.

In June 1934, Edward Grant was appointed Village Marshall serving until April 1935.

In April 1935, Robert Mann became Marshall, serving until July 1935 when Edward Grant was restored to the Office.

Marshall Grant's only assistants were special police wlio were used for special assignments, and also were used for duty on the Marshalls day off.

In August 1937, Arthur Beltz was placed on the department with the rank of assistant Marshall; this gave the village two full time police officers. Officer Beltz became Chief of Police in May 1957, when Marshall Grant resigned. In January 1941, two way radio communications were installed in the patrol car. Previous to this, the Officer in the squad could only receive calls. As the village population increased, and industrial plants began to increase in the village, the need for better communications became greater. A transmitter was installed, and civilian desk men were used to operate the transmitter, sending calls to our patrol cars.

In 1949 the police department began to increase in size and equipment:

These Officers worked under Chief Beltz until December 31, 1963. At this time Chief Beltz retired after twenty-six years of service.

On January 1, 1964, Harry Behrmann, a resident of Broadview for the 14 years became Chief of Police. The department under Chief Behrmann consisted of two Lieutenants, three sergeants, and nine patrolmen; in addition to these, there were four reserve Police Officers, George Badovinac, Samuel Falzone, Chester Beecher and Kenneth Becker. Four squad cars and one three wheel motorcycle are now used for patrol duty.

Broadview Police Force - 1964

Photo from Broadview Golden Jubilee -- 1914 to 1964

Members of the 1964 Broadview Police Force (left to right); Lieutenant George Bathje, Patrolman Walter Smock. Patrolman Donald Roff, Patrolman Vincent Ballo, Patrolman Frank Scarpace, Lieutenant Henry Behn and Police Chief Harry B. Behrman.

Photo from Broadview Golden Jubilee -- 1914 to 1964

Additional members of the police force included (left to right); Patrolman Donald Dote, Sergeant James Tepper, Patrolman Charles Fioravanti, Sergeant Robert Markey, Patrolman Richard Speno, Sergeant Edmund Rotermund, patrolman Donald George and Patrolman Edward Chiz.

Photo from Broadview Golden Jubilee -- 1914 to 1964

Members of the 1964 Broadview Special Police (front row, left to right); Patrolman Badovinac and Patrolman Chester Beecher, (back row, left to right), Patrolman Sam Falzone and Patrolman Kenneth Becker.

Sources and photos used in the compilation of this entry include but are not limited to:

Last Modified:  09/21/2002