February 1, 2008

Steel Fortress Repels Jail Raids (Apr, 1934)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 2:02 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1934
| Buy on Ebay

Steel Fortress Repels Jail Raids

CONFRONTED by the danger of being raided by a desperate gang of escaped convicts which has been terrorizing Illinois and Indiana, Marion County, Ind., officials have installed a veritable fortress in their jail to prevent any possible raids.

Following the successful holdups and jailbreaks at Auburn, III., and Peru, Ind., the Madison County officials built the fort to protect the custodians of their prisoners.

January 26, 2008

Electric Glove for Police Stuns Victims With 1,500 Volts (Sep, 1935)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 2:02 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1935
| Buy on Ebay

Electric Glove for Police Stuns Victims With 1,500 Volts

MORE punch than can be found in a box-glove is contained in a new electric glove invented by Cirilo Diaz of Cuba for use by police while handling rough characters or in quelling riots. Persons contacted by an officer wearing the glove receive a 1,500-volt shock, sufficient to remove all traces of fight. A half-pound battery worn on the belt supplies the power, all wiring being concealed beneath the coat.

Police officials in New York where the device was first demonstrated, were favorably impressed by its effectiveness.

January 21, 2008

Trick Dog Gets Orders by Radio (Jun, 1939)

Filed under: Crime and Police, Dogs, Radio — @ 2:05 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1939
| Buy on Ebay

The dog fired a revolver? That’s one dexterous dog!

Trick Dog Gets Orders by Radio

BY TEACHING a dog to do tricks under “radio control,” Constable Denholm, of the Sydney, Australia, police force, has fulfilled a two-year-old ambition. In a recent demonstration, he strapped a miniature shortwave radio receiving set on the back of Zoe, an Alsatian police dog, and retired to a shack fifty yards away. Then he spoke commands into the microphone of a portable transmitter. In response to her master’s voice as it came through the ether, Zoe climbed up and down ladders, turned a faucet on and off, took off her collar, and fired a revolver.

January 16, 2008

WHEELED SHIELD (Sep, 1956)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 2:02 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1956
| Buy on Ebay

WHEELED SHIELD (below) for Detroit cops protects men in blue against rioters and gunmen. Police fire through the portholes.

FLATFOOT VERSION of 65-lb. armored plate protector has spotlight on top, leggings. Portholes are made of bulletproof glass.

January 14, 2008

Tear Gas Sprayed From Bank Teller’s Window Blinds Bandits for Capture (Feb, 1932)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 4:19 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1932
| Buy on Ebay

Tear Gas Sprayed From Bank Teller’s Window Blinds Bandits for Capture

A NEW and more effective means in preventing bank hold ups has recently been developed. On each side of the teller’s window are two automatic spraying devices, one with a strong odor of smoke stream and the other with a fine spray of a composition of formaldehyde. When both solutions meet they cause immediate blindness for at least 25 to 45 minutes, thus rendering the bandit helpless to operate any further. With his feet, the teller operates the electric switch, which is mounted on floor back of window, as shown in the accompanying photograph.

December 29, 2007

Intoximeter (May, 1947)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 4:14 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1947
| Buy on Ebay

Intoximeter tests drivers for drunkenness. Below, Trooper Sam Maclntire of the East Lansing, Mich., post gives the test to a fellow officer who simulates a drunken driver.

December 23, 2007

BULLET-PROOF VEST RESISTS FIRE OF THREE PISTOLS (May, 1924)

Filed under: Crime and Police, Scary — @ 12:21 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1924
| Buy on Ebay

Doesn’t this still bruise the hell out of you? Who were these “young women” who let people shoot at them?

BULLET-PROOF VEST RESISTS FIRE OF THREE PISTOLS

To demonstrate the effectiveness of a bullet-proof vest he invented, a New York man donned the garment, posed as the target and allowed three policemen to shoot at him at close range. Repeated fire of thirty-eight and forty-five caliber bullets failed to penetrate the vest. The missiles were flattened against the sides of the protector and fell harmless to the ground. Following this demonstration, young women put on the vests and also served as targets.

December 16, 2007

POLICE IN BULLET-PROOF CARS PRACTICE SHOOTING TARGET (Jun, 1924)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 12:16 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1924
| Buy on Ebay

POLICE IN BULLET-PROOF CARS PRACTICE SHOOTING TARGET

To perfect their marksmanship, the Philadelphia patrolmen assigned to duty with a fleet of fast, bullet-proof automobiles, have been practicing shooting at a target while the cars are in motion. The machines have been assigned to patrol duty as a precaution against criminals who also employ high-powered machines.

December 1, 2007

T-Men of the Treasury (Dec, 1936)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 9:21 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1936
| Buy on Ebay

T-Men of the Treasury

OLD Tom Quisenberry, desperado and smuggler, a law unto himself in a remote section of the Virginia coast, unwittingly started the existence of the government “T”-men, sometimes called Trigger men, a new law-enforcement agency of the Treasury department that now bids fair to rival the famous G-men of the Department of Justice.

Old Tom violated a smuggling law in 1934. He then shot and killed Corp. Clarence McClary, Virginia policeman who sought to apprehend him, and wounded George C. Fitzpatrick, treasury enforcement agent.
Read the rest of this entry »

November 30, 2007

Modern Card Sharps use Scientific Methods (Dec, 1930)

Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 12:12 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1930
| Buy on Ebay

Modern Card Sharps use Scientific Methods

by ALFRED ALBELLI

All the resources of modern science and invention are employed by the clever card sharp who sets out to fleece a wealthy victim. You yourself, if you play cards, are fair game for a crooked player unless you are forewarned of his methods. In this article Mr. Albelli exposes the clever methods which enable the crooked gambler to cheat without his victim being aware of what is going on.

ONE night last August four men sat down to a congenial game of stud poker in a Saratoga hotel suite, where one pays fifty dollars for a night’s lodging with benefit of bath.
Read the rest of this entry »

November 18, 2007

CAR DRIVER CAN NOW FLASH SIGN FOR HELP (Oct, 1934)

Filed under: Automotive, Crime and Police — @ 2:46 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1934
| Buy on Ebay

CAR DRIVER CAN NOW FLASH SIGN FOR HELP
Attacked by hold-up men or kidnapers while in his car, a driver using a Detroit inventor’s new alarm signal may appeal to police or passing motorists for help. The signal is lettered with the word “Help.” When not required, it folds up out of sight. When danger threatens, the driver pushes a button and the signal drops down into plain view.

November 12, 2007

Gun Ports Guard Police Autos (Apr, 1934)

Filed under: Automotive, Crime and Police — @ 6:56 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1934
| Buy on Ebay

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.

21 queries. 0.793 seconds.