Davenport Police Motorcycle Patrol 1914

Motorcycle police officers Edwin Blackhan and John Bryant

 In the spring of 1913, the Davenport Police Department tried something new.

 

Automobiles were multiplying, drivers were testing the limits of speed, and the old methods—foot patrols and horse officers—couldn’t always keep up. So the department bought a motorcycle.

 

The plan was simple. A motorcycle officer would remain near the station house. When an emergency call came in, he was dispatched, racing through city streets faster than any patrol wagon could manage.

 

The first motorcycle officer was Charles Boettcher. He set the pace for the new experiment, proving that two wheels and a powerful engine could change the way a city was policed. When Boettcher moved up to detective work, Olaf Dahlquist took his place.

 

By 1914, the motorcycle squad had become indispensable. The Davenport Democrat and Leader said the department would be “lost” without its motorcycle officers. Speeding automobiles—sometimes called “auto speed maniacs”—were becoming a menace. The department answered with a machine built to match them.

 

They chose a Flying Merkle, a powerful motorcycle capable of reaching 55 to 60 miles per hour. That speed made it more than a novelty. It made it a weapon against reckless driving. As the department put it, a “motorcycle cop is the only effectual solution of the auto speed maniac problem.” It took a high-powered car to escape a motorcycle man, and few drivers owned one.

 

In the spring of 1914, two officers carried the city’s motorcycle duties. Edwin Blackhan handled the daytime shift. John Bryant took the night watch.

 

What began as a simple experiment quickly proved its worth. Within a year, Davenport’s motorcycle patrol wasn’t just a curiosity. It was essential. And plans were in the works to add another cycle.