CAMERON, MISSOURI
POLICE DEPARTMENT HISTORY
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CAMERON, MISSOURI POLICE DEPARTMENT HISTORY |
The Cameron Police Department has been serving the citizens of Cameron since the mid 1800’s. The Cameron House, later called the Western House, built in 1858 was the first jail for the city. The jail cell was actually a hotel room. By the 1960’s the police department was in City Hall, moving from Third Street to Main. The jail sat at the northeast corner of 2nd Street and Main before it was moved to the garage of City Hall. After hours the Power Plant would take calls for the department and then would have the operator ring a bell located in the alley to notify an officer. Before 1952 the department had four officers that worked 12 hour shifts but after 1952 they moved up to 5 officers that worked 8 hour shifts. Today the department has grown with the city and has sixteen full time officers, four reserve officers, two who work as court bailiff’s, seven dispatchers and a police records clerk.
Cameron’s first motorcycle officer was Harold Farmer back in 1921. Mr. Farmer used his own motorcycle to patrol the streets of Cameron and was paid $5.00 a day when he worked. In 1960 the department got their second city police car, a Studebaker Lark. The department bought a Honda motorcycle in 1981 for the officers and today they are equipped with a 2004 Harley Davidson. Today the Cameron Police Department has 10 patrol vehicles for its officers.
In 1996 the Department moved from 215 East 2nd Street to where they are now at 101 North Chestnut. With the new building they have added their TIPS hotline, two dispatch areas, separate booking rooms, more office space for the officers, new computers for report writing, and a big training room that is shared with the fire department.
The Cameron Police Department has had many honorable men serve as police chief. Police Chief Norm Eader and Police Chief Defreece were both retired High Patrolmen. Police Chief Eader, with 40 years of service in law enforcement, also received the American Legion Law Enforcement Award in 1978.
The first Marshall, today known as Police Chief, was Henry C. Culver. He served as Marshall from 1870 until his death in November 1879 at a quarterly salary of $45.00. On November 29, 1879, one day before his 46th Birthday, Marshall Culver was shot and killed by the Kidder boys, Jerome Johnson and Aaron Harpster in the alley behind where Kum-N-Go sits today. Johnson and Harpster spent the day running the streets, stealing a gun from the local hardware store, and then leaving the horse stables without paying. Marshall Culver was gunned down by Johnson trying to stop the boys as they were fleeing. Some believe his murder was out of revenge after Marshall Culver arrested Harpster’s brother months earlier. Either way, Marshall Culver was the 1st of only two lawmen in the history of the Cameron Police Department to die in the line of duty. Today, the Public Safety Building is named after the slain Marshall Henry C. Culver.
The second to die in the line of duty was Marshall George Leonard. He served from April 3, 1891 to March 16, 1898. Marshall Leonard was gunned downed at the Cameron Depot when he went there to question two men suspected of committing several burglaries in town the night before.
The Cameron Police Department is committed to providing a safe and quiet place for its citizens to call home. The officers that make up the department are considered some of the finest trained and equipped officers in Northwest Missouri. They strive to be fair, honest, and impartial in all of their dealings. The officers of the Cameron Police Department look forward to serving this community in the years to come.
CAMERON POLICE CHIEFS PAST AND PRESENT
1870-1879 Marshall Henry C. Culver
1875 Night Watchman William West
1880 Constable Willis
1880 Marshall R.J. Leeard
1886 Police Duty, J.D.M. Jacks
1891-1898 Marshall George Leonard
1916-1922 Thomas Michael O’Neal
1921 MC Officer Harold Farmer
1922 Assistant Marshall B.C. Elvert
1922 Marshall Bing
1929 Marshall Wilkins
1939 Assistant Marshall Frank McCullough
1939 Assistant Marshall Asa Defreece
1944 Police Chief J.L. McClain
1944 Night Watchman Ed Sydebotham
1944 Assistant Night Watchman W.W. Souders
1945 Night Watchman Chris Potts
1945 Night Watchman Ed Jones
1945 Jail Caretaker L.M. Johnson
1949 Police Chief Chalmer Peters
???? Police Chief Charles Wamsley
1950 Police Chief W.D. Crow
1951 Police Chief Clarence Davis
1952-1968 Police Chief Ben Griffin
1968-1973 Police Chief Wilbur (Webb) King
1973-1976 Police Chief Richard Defreece
1976-1978 Police Chief Norman Eader
1979-2004 Police Chief Harold “Hal” Riddle
2004-present Police Chief L. Corey Sloan
***Mindy Waltemeyer, Cameron, wrote this article on the police department history during an internship for a college class at Missouri Western State College in 2004. The data was compiled by Mindy, Corporal Judy Becker and Retired Chief of Police Hal Riddle.***