Watching the Night And Waiting for the Dawn in Elkton

elkton police officer ernie beck 1968
Elkton Police Officer Ernie Beck inspects a shattered car window (Cecil Whig, Nov. 13, 1968, Frear)

 This past Friday, the Cecil Whig ran one of its “recognize this” photos showing an Elkton patrolman examining the shattered window of an automobile.  In those weekly installment of old images from decades ago, they ask people to share whatever they know about the image.

This one was part of photojournalist Richard Frear’s coverage of the Elkton Police night watch titled “Watching the Night and Waiting for the Dawn.” Readers surfing over to the Whig have pointed out that it was Patrolman Ernie Beck. Ernie and his partner Baron were the first K-9 patrol in the county seat, and they kept a careful watch on those lonely night shifts in that troubled year of 1968.

As several people have asked questions about the photographer’s work, here are a few other photos from the series. 

Here’s a link to the full photo page from the Cecil Whig of Nov. 13, 1968

01:47 — Beck stops a juvenile suspected of being intoxicated in the Court House parking lot and searches him for a possible concealed weapon. His K-9 is trained to attack if the suspect makes any attempt to flee or attack Beck. (Source: Cecil Whig., Nov. 13, 1968, Frear)

0 Replies to “Watching the Night And Waiting for the Dawn in Elkton”

  1. I used to spend days and hours looking at Richard Frear’s work back in the late 80’s and trying to figure out how he made all those great images.

  2. Bill, this series always caught my attention too. Did he have lots of others of this quality at the Whig? Did he go to the News Journal after that?

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