The Wheels of Justice: Elkton Police Mount Bicycle Patrol in 1900

To the consternation and dismay of crooks, felons, and troublemakers, the Elkton Town Council decided  to provide its tiny police force with greater mobility in Nov. 1900.  At a council meeting that month, the town purchased a bicycle for $10, allowing their  lawman to  pedal rapidly around the municipality.  Once it arrived, Bailiff George Biddle, the only officer, whirled quietly through the streets, alleys and roads of the growing community performing his duties with greater efficiency,  

The fact that Elkton mounted a wheeled patrol caught the attention of other communities.   The Chestertown Officer, Mr. Simpson, said if the town furnished the bike, “he might consider it, but he had no hankering to become a mounted policeman.”  By the time thanksgiving rolled around, Officer Biddle was in good cheer, a local newspaper reported, as he was thankful that Mayor McQuilkin and the councilmen armed him with the unit allowing him to spin from point to point on his rounds.

This was the same year the automobile started showing up in town, but the arrival of a patrol car was nearly thirty years away for the force.  But with the town council in such a progressive mood, there was talk of purchasing a pair of horses for street work.  They could also be used to pull the steamer of the Singerly Fire Company.  Nothing ever came of that idea.

(Bailiff was the title given to the officer charged with maintaining law and order in Maryland municipalities.)

In addition to the Elkton Police Bicycle Patrol, see this article on another transportation innovation in law enforcement when the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office received its first patrol cars in 1968

Sheriff’s Office Takes Step Forward in 20th Century Law Enforcement by Providing Patrol Cars