November 12, 2007

Gun Ports Guard Police Autos (Apr, 1934)

Gun Ports Guard Police Autos

A GUN port, built into a bullet proof windshield, has been perfected by Carroll Smart, Dearborn, Mich., inventor, and is hailed as a great aid in battling crime.

An officer’s pistol or rifle can be inserted in this port and aimed in any direction desired. The glass is entirely bullet proof.

Thus, in pursuit of bandits, it is no longer necessary for an officer to remain a target by standing on a running board or reaching out from the safety windshield to fire.

November 3, 2007

Motorcycle Radio Transmitters Aid Police in War on Crime (Nov, 1933)

Motorcycle Radio Transmitters Aid Police in War on Crime

DURING running gun battles with bandits, British motorcycle police can send radio calls for reserves through short wave transmitting sets.

The sending outfit is the latest police radio equipment for the quick suppression of crime. It is an addition to the usual receiving set tuned to the frequency of a central police transmitting station.

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October 27, 2007

BULLET-PROOF STEEL INCLOSES NEW CAGE FOR CASHIERS (Nov, 1933)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 9:55 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1933

BULLET-PROOF STEEL INCLOSES NEW CAGE FOR CASHIERS

Electric locks foil hold-up men in a new cashier’s cage for filling stations and small-town banks. Just large enough for one person to enter at a time, it is completely inclosed in bullet-proof steel and fits conveniently in a corner of a room. When the attendant enters to make change, cash a check, or leave a deposit, he presses an electric contact. The door glides shut and locks him in, simultaneously exposing the money drawer and fifteen numbered buttons on a panel above it. Pressing a certain combination of three buttons opens the drawer. It must be shut by pressing another secret three-button combination before the outer door can be re-opened by a concealed electric switch. As the outer door swings open and the attendant steps out, entrance to the money compartment is again barred by a metal curtain.

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October 16, 2007

Camera On Policeman’s Revolver Snaps Evidence (Feb, 1938)

Camera On Policeman’s Revolver Snaps Evidence

ATTACHED to the barrel of a service revolver, a compact motion picture camera enables a policeman to take action pictures of any person at whom the revolver is aimed. The pictures thus obtained can be presented as evidence at court.

The motion picture camera is triangular in shape and is attached under the barrel of the revolver by means of metal clamps. The lens is directly in line with, and under, the revolver muzzle. The camera is set in action by a slight pressure on the revolver trigger, independent of the firing of the weapon. Due to the compact size of the gun camera device, only a small roll of film can be accommodated at one loading.

October 4, 2007

PISTOL FIRES RED PAINT AT FLEEING AUTO (Feb, 1932)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 12:12 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1932

PISTOL FIRES RED PAINT AT FLEEING AUTO

So that gangsters and hit-and-run drivers cannot escape pursuing police cars in crowded city streets, a St. Louis, Mo., inventor has devised a pistol which shoots a small celluloid shell about the size of a hen’s egg. Upon hitting the body of a fleeing automobile it creates a large splash of red dye. This identifies the car as one wanted by the police. The barrel of the pistol is about two inches in diameter, and the projecting mechanism is a spring which will shoot the shell over 900 feet. The nose of the shell is soft rubber, underneath which is a pin valve that releases the dye.

September 30, 2007

PIPE SHOOTS THROUGH ITS STEM (Feb, 1933)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 7:37 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1933

PIPE SHOOTS THROUGH ITS STEM
Though innocent enough in outward appearance, a novel type of firearm disguised as a smoking pipe serves as a formidable weapon when it is needed. The gun fires a .25 caliber cartridge. Its stem unscrews for loading, while the bowl of the pipe serves as a magazine for five extra rounds of ammunition. A knurled screw near the center serves as a trigger, and fires the pipe pistol when it is pulled back as illustrated in the photograph above, the user sighting meanwhile along the length of the stem. A German inventor is responsible for the unusual weapon.

September 26, 2007

ANTI-MURDER, INC. (Aug, 1950)

ANTI-MURDER, INC.

Cop’s best friend and crook’s worst enemy is what they call Faurot, Inc., the company that makes and sells felony-fighting gadgets.

By West Peterson

PRICELESS furs were being stolen from a New York department store. Officials knew it was an inside job but weeks of watching had failed to reveal the criminals. Finally, the store called in John A. Dondero, president and scientific director of Faurot, Inc.

Dondero examined the premises carefully and found nothing. But he did suspect the emergency exit doors which supposedly were never used. So, he sprinkled a special powder on the door knobs and then sent one of his men to watch the washroom. Soon, two employes came to wash some mysterious dark stains from their hands. Dondero accused them of using the emergency doors to pass furs out to waiting accomplices. At first they denied it, but then confessed when he told them how he had trapped them.

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September 19, 2007

New York to Battle Gangsters with Armored Motorbikes and Shot Guns (Nov, 1931)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 7:47 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1931

New York to Battle Gangsters with Armored Motorbikes and Shot Guns

NEW YORK’S most dramatic gesture in its recent declaration of war-to-the-last-ditch on gangsters is the adoption by the police force of the armored motorbike and the sawed-off repeating shotgun. Squadrons of these war-like motorbikes will patrol the streets to strike terror into the hearts of the criminals who have turned New York into a veritable No-man’s land, raking the streets with submachine gun fire and cutting down everybody who happens to get in the way.

To expedite the capture of gangsters, New York police officials are planning to equip all squad- cars and motorbikes with shortwave sending and receiving sets.

“Gypping” the Public (May, 1938)

“Gypping” the Public

Millions of dollars are annually lost to the “short weight” merchants and to those dispensing foodstuffs in “phony” boxes and packages.

WHEN Mr. and Mrs. Buying Public purchase tickets to a show to observe the magician pull rabbits out of a hat, they fully expect to be fooled; they enjoy the trickery even if they are made parties to it; but when this same couple goes to the market to purchase meat at so much a pound, they object strenuously if the man behind the counter slips an 8-ounce sinker into the fowl before he weighs it.

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September 18, 2007

“Shooting It Out” with Movie Gangsters” (May, 1938)

“Shooting It Out” with Movie Gangsters”

THE only practice the average G-man, detective or law enforcement officer gets with his pistol, rifle or submachine gun is against a wooden target which pops into view or on a stationary bull’s-eye, where one has plenty of time to level the sights. In either case the target never fights back.

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September 14, 2007

Riot Car Shoots Water, Bullets or Poison Gas (May, 1938)

Riot Car Shoots Water, Bullets or Poison Gas

ON the cover of the current issue appears our artist’s conception of a riot car just patented by Victorino L. Tunaya, of Brooklyn, New York. This vehicle is provided with a number of discharge nozzles through which powerful streams of water or liquid gas can be projected on rioting groups of persons. In event of very serious trouble, machine guns may be mounted in the turrets instead of hose nozzles to deal with rioters with greater finality. Two
huge tanks contain the liquid, which is driven through the nozzles by a pump.

August 14, 2007

“Teller-Vision” Cage (Oct, 1941)

A Teller-Vision Cage sounds like something a redneck would use to protect his TV from being stolen.

Bank Gives Curb Service to Motorists with Novel “Teller-Vision” Cage

Called the first of its kind in the country, a curbside teller’s window for motorists has been placed in service by the American National Bank, Portsmouth, Va. Without leaving his car, a customer may make deposits or transact other business. To forestall robbery, the teller occupies an underground chamber, but he and the customer see each other face to face through mirrors of a large periscope. An electrical system permits two-way conversation. Money and papers are conveyed between customer and teller by a miniature electric dumbwaiter, controlled by push buttons from below.

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