|
|
Article: TOUGH LOVE SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DIFAVA IS BRINGING SENSITIVITY, DIVERSITY, AND OUTREACH TO THE TRADITION-MINDED MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE.
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- January 7, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
When the automobile lurched onto America's roadways, state police
were driven into new territory. Not only were citizens maiming
themselves in car accidents, but criminals were operating on wheels,
striking in one jurisdiction and fleeing to another. So in 1921,
troopers took to the roads, reorganizing yet again to become the
Uniformed Branch of the State Police. The first 50 recruits trained
at the muster grounds in Framingham, with quarters on a former poor
farm. They cannibalized some World War I ambulances and refitted
Model T touring cars to make the first police cruisers. And for the
first time, they had uniforms.
Initially, they wore forest green Army surplus outfits, with
leather or ...