PAX Centurion - March / April 2015

Page 26 • PAX CENTURION • March/April 2015 617-989-BPPA (2772) Boston Police Signal Boxes T he Boston Police Signal Box system has gradually extended throughout the City of Boston. Since 1886, there were in use 411 signal boxes or stations, connected with sixteen Boston Police Station houses. Each of these boxes contains automatic signaling mechanism, bells and telephones, thus establishing perfect inter-communication between the patrolman on-duty and the station house, and direct in- formation or orders may be sent from one to the other in either direc- tion. The Patrolmen would be sent a signal and the light would flash and the Patrol- man would check in, which was positive proof that the patrolman is attending to his duty. This was recorded at the station house and automatically timed. If a patrolman wants aid, or wishes the wagon for conveyance of a prisoner to the station house, he indi- cates it by using the feature of the signaling device, which sounds an alarm at the station house. Another feature was if the Officer in charge of the station house wishes to give information to pa- trolmen on their beats, or wishes to concentrate the force at some particular place, he has only to turn a switch on the sta- tion house desk, which causes a bell to ring in the signal box, when the patrolman sends in his “on-duty” call. By this signal, which notifies only the patrolman and not the by-standers, it is known that the station house has important infor- mation to give to the patrolman. The entire force of a district can be in- formed of any event in a very few minutes, or can be concentrated at any particular spot, as was the case of the riot in the Massachusetts State Prison, when eighty men from Station 15 marched into the prison so fast that the disturbance was quelled before it had obtained any headway. In the year 1891, the number of Patrolmen was 679, Captains By P.O. Robert E. Anthony, BPPA Historian 17, Station Houses 16, Signal Boxes 411, Telephone Calls 178,100, Number of On-Duty Calls 2,236,804, Wagon Calls 24,896, Miles Run 31,100, Wagon Calls for Ambulance Duty 343. To direct the station to send the wagon or to use the telephone, the Patrolman would turn the pointer to the service required, then pull down the finger-hook to the bottom of the slot and let go. A wagon call must be repeated after an interval of five seconds. To signal for orders – turn the pointer to your route number and pull. On Divisions 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 13, 15 and 16 – upon open- ing the box door – the telephone is in-service, pick up receiver and talk, no hook is needed to be pulled. Locations of the boxes were called Circuits, if you were assigned to Station 1, the first Circuit was as follows, 4 – Richmond and Commercial Streets, 5 – Commercial and North Market Streets, 6 –AtlanticAvenue and South Market Street, 7 –AtlanticAvenue/ Commercial Wharf, 12 – Commercial/East- ernAvenue, 13 – North Ferry. There were four Circuits in Station 1. Station 2-19 had four Circuits each some of the walking beats had up to 15 boxes on their routes. Locations of the Districts were District 1 was 150 North Street, 2 – 229 Milk Street, 3 – 80 Joy Street, 4 –WarrenAvenue, 6 – 273 D Street, 7 – Emmons and Paris Streets, 8 – 521 Commercial Street, 9 – Dudley Street, corner of Mt. Pleasant Avenue, 10 – 1170 Columbus Avenue, 11 –Adams Street, corner of Arcadia Street, 13 – Seav- erns Avenue, 14 –Washing- ton Street, junction of Cambridge Street, Brighton, 15 – City Square, Charlestown, 16 – Boylston Street, near Hereford Street, 17 – 1891 Centre Street, West Roxbury, 18 – 1249 Hyde ParkAvenue, 19 – 872 Morton Street, Roxbury, Traffic Division – 229 Milk Street.