Historical society to hear about history of HSPD
The Garland County Historical Society will present “The History of the Hot Springs Police Department” Tuesday at the Garland County Library.
The program, which will begin at noon, will be presented by Hot Springs Police Department Cpl. Joey Williams. The meeting is open to the public.
The program will feature a mixture of photographs and stories related to the history of the department. Williams will discuss its colorful past from the formation of the department, the 1899 shootout on Central Avenue between members of the Hot Springs Police Department and members of the Garland County Sheriff’s Department that left five men dead, and many more interesting aspects of the department’s history, a news release said.
Williams will also discuss how the department has changed over the years, according to the release.
One of the photographs, included with this article, shows Hot Springs police Officer Sadine Hildreth and a fellow police officer wearing uniforms patterned on those of New York City policemen in 1884.
In 1879, the newly incorporated city of Hot Springs appointed a police chief, and in 1883 a police department was created with a chief
and five officers.
In a second photograph, taken in 1949 or 1950, Hot Springs police Officer Pee Wee Roberts gives a parking ticket to Violet Burton on Como Square in a publicity photo to encourage residents to pay their parking fees.
Williams is an 18-year veteran of the Hot Springs Police Department and a second generation officer. He was born and raised in Hot Springs and is a U.S. Navy and Arkansas National Guard veteran. He is currently assigned as the HSPD public information officer and has become the unofficial historian of the department.