Somehow it makes sense that the leader of the Rough Riders would start a Scorcher Squad.
In 1898, the Secretary of the Navy resigned his position so he could join the First US Volunteer Cavalry. This unit would gain renown in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. For their exploits on the island, they and the former Navy Secretary would be nicknamed "Roosevelt's Rough Riders".
Three years earlier, this Theodore Roosevelt had been the New York City Police Commissioner. That year, 1895, may have been the peak of America's first Bike Boom, and pedaled two-wheelers were the fastest vehicles on the streets of the Big Apple. Particularly fast riders were known as "scorchers" for the way they blazed past everyone and everything else on the road.
Now, every good crime-fighter knows that one of the most effective ways to make his or her city's streets safer is to harness the skills of renegades and outlaws. A modern example of this would be to enlist hackers to help in the fight against cybercrime. In the final years of the 19th Century, that meant using "scorchers" to apprehend speeding horse-drawn carriages.
That is exactly what "Teddy" had in mind when he formed the "Scorcher Squad". This 29-member unit of cyclists made 1366 arrests in its first year. That number is particularly impressive when one realizes that the city then consisted only of the island of Manhattan (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx would join it in--que coincidencia!--1898) and had only a sixth of the city's current population.
Roosevelt's creation was so successful that in less than two decades, it expanded to include 1025 bicycles in addition to 276 motorcycles and 327 horses. But after World War I, cars as well as motorcycles replaced bicycles on patrol. By the 1930's, bikes had all but disappeared from constabulary units in New York as well as other American cities.
But in the late 1960's and early 1970's, three Presidential commissions concluded that community policing was more important than technology and crime-fighting, which had been the foci of law enforcement agencies for more than three decades. Cities began to reinstitute bicycles and, by the late 1980's, bike patrols had made a visible comeback.
Can't you just picture the Rough Rider on one of today's police bicycles?
N.B.: The above photo and some information in this post were taken from Bowery Boogie.
In 1898, the Secretary of the Navy resigned his position so he could join the First US Volunteer Cavalry. This unit would gain renown in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. For their exploits on the island, they and the former Navy Secretary would be nicknamed "Roosevelt's Rough Riders".
Three years earlier, this Theodore Roosevelt had been the New York City Police Commissioner. That year, 1895, may have been the peak of America's first Bike Boom, and pedaled two-wheelers were the fastest vehicles on the streets of the Big Apple. Particularly fast riders were known as "scorchers" for the way they blazed past everyone and everything else on the road.
Now, every good crime-fighter knows that one of the most effective ways to make his or her city's streets safer is to harness the skills of renegades and outlaws. A modern example of this would be to enlist hackers to help in the fight against cybercrime. In the final years of the 19th Century, that meant using "scorchers" to apprehend speeding horse-drawn carriages.
That is exactly what "Teddy" had in mind when he formed the "Scorcher Squad". This 29-member unit of cyclists made 1366 arrests in its first year. That number is particularly impressive when one realizes that the city then consisted only of the island of Manhattan (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx would join it in--que coincidencia!--1898) and had only a sixth of the city's current population.
Roosevelt's creation was so successful that in less than two decades, it expanded to include 1025 bicycles in addition to 276 motorcycles and 327 horses. But after World War I, cars as well as motorcycles replaced bicycles on patrol. By the 1930's, bikes had all but disappeared from constabulary units in New York as well as other American cities.
But in the late 1960's and early 1970's, three Presidential commissions concluded that community policing was more important than technology and crime-fighting, which had been the foci of law enforcement agencies for more than three decades. Cities began to reinstitute bicycles and, by the late 1980's, bike patrols had made a visible comeback.
Can't you just picture the Rough Rider on one of today's police bicycles?
N.B.: The above photo and some information in this post were taken from Bowery Boogie.
Bully! Sign me up.
ReplyDeleteMT--That was one of the most apt comments I've received on this blog!
ReplyDeleteRemember: Ride softly and carry a big pump.