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Handy (Jam) OrganizationThis Is Your Police Department (1951)

Operations and ceremonies of the Detroit Police Department.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: Detroit Police Field Day Committee
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
Keywords: Police; Detroit, Michigan

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: stuporduck - - August 1, 2008
Subject: this is your police department
I love this chestnut of early 50's Detroit,before the fall..i know it seems corny to all you born after the 80's..back then it wasn't a crime to love your city or country.your generation will never know a Detroit that wasn't a basket case..i left detroit in 1972..the city died the day after i left it..i was 11 then..detroit will never recover. ever..

Reviewer: fijiII - - July 18, 2008
Subject: History
My father was one of the detectives. More than likely we were in the stands at the U of D Stadium.

My family has a combined total of close to, if not more than, 300 years service the Police and Sheriff departments of southeastern Michigan.

Reviewer: jazzfan - - June 5, 2008
Subject: First Half Of The Video Is OK, But.....
The rest of the video is all half-time. Who's watching the city while these guys are marching around and around? This piece of work needs some editing unless you like half-time shows.

Reviewer: Andruschak - - March 30, 2008
Subject: Memories
My father was one of those Detroit Police Officers.

The Field Days were held in the University of Detroit stadium, two shows Saturday, two shows Sunday. Later (late 50's??) it moved to Briggs Stadium and cut to a single day. In '51 I was 4 years old. In '52 I became one of the Police Clowns, along with the sons of other Police Clowns. The only one I recognize is Humphrey, and only because he is riding his Humphrey Cycle -- the tricycle with the house.

Reviewer: norton67 - - January 17, 2008
Subject: and ABOVE ALL Joe,
be alert ! The city of Detroit needs another lert !

Seriously tho I thought this was a good flik. I liked the motorcycles.

Does anyone know if that stadium was where the Detroit Lions played ball ? Just wondering.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - July 13, 2005
Subject: Whatchoo gonna do, whatchoo gonna do..
This is your Police Department follows a fresh recruit of the police force from his training to his beats on the streets of Detroit.

First of all, when he is trained, it appears that half of it is done in your skivvies. Um. Why this is is never explained. After 3 months of training, (some with their clothes on) Youre off to the streets of Chicago, where hes helping lost kids, writing tickets and stealing newspapers from traveling homeowners. Soon, hes promoted to a squad car!! Their first call.. FAMILY TROUBLE!!! (Domestic Situation hadnt entered the English language apparently). Unfortunately, its only a bickering wife giving him an earful about how her and her husband can argue any way they want, and if they want to throw things around, then thats all right! The policeman runs out of there, tail between his legs. Soon, theres off to another call! A hold up at a wage office! They go there, sirens blazing, and they enter.. We dont see what happens, but we hear gunshots, and the narrator said the recruits partner has been shot!

By who is never explained.

Shotlist

Film on Detroit Police officers in two-parts one on the annual Detroit Police Field Day; the other on the hiring and training of cops. Annual outdoor police rally
Battalions of police department members march, ride horses and motorcycles and otherwise parade past the camera's lens.
Stock shots:
Police marching bands. Close-order drills.
Track and field events. One division of policewomen seen.
Hiring and training of officers. Target practice. first aid classes. Cadets, in what appears to be their underwear, practice "commando" movements with rifles in a gymnasium.
Lie detector / polygraph.
Drunkometer / breathalyzer; ballistics test consisting of firing a gun into a box. School crossing; walking the beat. Helps little girl eating ice cream cone. Precinct map. Dispatchers. Police cars.
Police respond to holdup. Shots fired; bang bang. Cop shot.
Surprise shots: Plainclothes cops all wearing light-colored fedoras and suits march past. Real cops acting as clowns including a couple in drag. Tug-of-war
Voiceovers:
"this is your police department in review. These are the guardians of your city."
Domestic disputes called "family trouble."
"Joe had visions of being a hero, of defending some frail little woman whose husband was mistreating her. But in this case, Joe was told by a ruffled lady of the house to mind his own business. If she and her husband wanted to throw things at each other, that was their business."

¥ 6:42:60- 06:53:65
Nice image of a store-lined street in Detroit. Women leisurely walk by the store windows. A police officer walks in the opposite direction, and turns to look at a man walking by.

¥ 11:42:00- 11:54:07
A police car speeds by a line of traffic on a downtown Detroit street and rounds a corner. Pedestrians stop and stare. Detroit looks more like a town than a city.

¥ 18:21:47- 18:49:60
Strange image of retired policemen dressed as clowns running around a track at the Police Field Day in Detroit. One of them rides a bicycle and two others are strung together. They wave to the crowd. Cut to clowns dressed in wedding gear and then to a man dressed in drag (with a surly expression) slowly walking by the crowd.


polygraph Detroit, Michigan (History and culture) Danger Lurks