Police departments in metropolitan areas often utilize officers to patrol assigned beats throughout the community. At the time the photograph pictured here was taken, the Seattle Police Department had two shifts of patrols, the First Patrol and the Second Patrol.
This photo shows the First Patrol standing outside the Police Headquarters Building at Yesler Way and Fourth Avenue. None of the officers of the First Patrol are identified in this image, however one of them is likely Captain William Howard Searing (1877-1954), who was later Chief of Police from 1920-1922 and 1926-1928.
Handwritten on image: First Patrol Seattle Police Dept., Capt. W. H. Searing, Nov. 11 - 1919. Embossed on photo: Frank H. Nowell, 1212 $th Ave., Seattle, USA
Physical Description: 1 photographic print: b&w ; 21 x 9.75 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
