Free Remembering Conshohocken and West Conshohocken by Jack Coll

removed from the Forrest Street police station and incorporated into the new station, and they are still in use today.
    In 1987, the police department had received a new contract giving them a 4 percent raise, followed by a 2 percent raise in 1988. The agreement would raise the starting pay of a police officer from $19,472.00 to $19,861.97. The maximum salary for sergeants would be $27,586.00, an increase of $541.00 per year. Police officers who served during the 1980s included Frank Charlesworth, Paul Price, John Ellam, George Metz, Ed Williamson, Ron Kilbride, Francis Ruggiero, Tony Santoro, Michael Orler and Adam Pagliaro, just to name a few.
    There have been at least eleven Conshohocken police chiefs in the nearly 140-year history of the department.
James Courduff
borough’s first chief of police
Henry Hollands
chief in 1886 and 1887, sometime before and after
William Heald
chief, 1924–28
Daniel Donovan
chief, 1928–34
Francis “Bunny” Blake
chief, 1934–38
Walter Phipps Sr.
chief, 1938–58
Charles Marwood
chief, 1959–unknown
Raymond Alexander
chief
Adam Pagliaro
chief, unknown–1993
James Doughtery
chief, 1994–2009
Michael Orler
chief, 2009–present
Headlines and a Few Good Stories
    A few headlines ripped from the Conshohocken Recorder from over the years include:
    1886
    â€œChief of Police Hollands Arrested a Cow.” The cow belonged to William Hallowell and was arrested for running the streets at large.
    1910
    â€œOfficer Shoots at Escaping Prisoner.” Michael Kennedy escaped Officer Heald as he was about to be placed in a cell; the officer shot at fleeing man, who made his escape.
    1910
    â€œSpeak Easy Keeper Held for Trial.” George E. Culp was held for $800 bail. Many witnesses testified to purchasing beer on Sunday at Culp’s home on West Sixth Avenue near Whiskey Lane (today’s Sutcliffe Lane).
    1912
    â€œPolice Raid Crap Shooters.” A fight among street gamblers at Seventh Avenue and Forrest Street brought the police, but crapshooters made their escape.
    1912
    â€œGun Duel in Street Between Italians.” Another victim of the lawless element of foreigners who were permitted to openly violate the law by carrying concealed deadly weapons. The two men got into a gun battle after drinking at a local tavern.
    1913
    â€œPolice Shoot and Kill Man Charged with a Felony as He Was Escaping.” Officers Ruth and Mason captured a man charged with a felony. The prisoner escaped and swam a creek, did not heed shots in air and police fired on him, inflicting fatal injuries.
    1918
    â€œWhole Police Force Offer Resignations.” Men were dissatisfied with wages of eighty dollars per month for continuous work, would stay if paid ninety dollars.
    1920
    â€œPoliceman Tussles with a Bull.” Officer Campbell made the most exciting arrest of his career when he arrested a bull. The bull escaped from his stable off North Lane and wandered into town, stepping on flowers on Fourth and Fifth Avenues.
    1925
    â€œOfficer Jacquot Rounds Up Bad Gang.” Officer Jacquot captured five youths who committed a series of robberies in different sections of the borough.
    1926
    â€œHotel Keeper Under Bail, Caught with 5 Quarts of Moonshine.” Officer Jacquot captured the proprietor of a hotel located at the corner of Elm and Poplar Streets with a bag containing five quarts of moonshine. When he was being put into the jail cell, he attempted to bribe Officers Jacquot, Donovan and Himes with fifty dollars, but his offer was refused.
    1927
    â€œPoliceman Shot in Leg When Pistol Falls from Holster.” Officer Donovan was wounded by accidental discharge of pistol in police station. The bullet just missed the chief. The bullet struck the officer in the left leg just above the ankle, took an upward course, passed out a short distance below the knee and embedded itself close to the top of the door leading to the corridor of the cell room, a few feet