 Mountain View was incorporated on November 7, 1902. One of the first acts of the new city council was to elect a marshal, R.C. Waits. Waits' duties were mostly administrative, and another officer was hired in 1909 to assist with the enforcement of laws. In addition to the marshal, the Santa Clara County Sheriff and Fremont Township Constable also had offices in town.
In 1916, the city appointed a traffic officer to address the problem of speeding vehicles on Castro Street. Officers were expected to provide their own vehicles, which may explain why the city had to recruit candidates from as far away as San Jose to fill the position.
 Before the radio...
Chief Louis Gray, in 1938, initiated the modern era of law enforcement by installing the "eye light." The eye light was a red beacon hung at the corner of Castro and Villa Streets, which signaled the patrolling officers to telephone the station of their calls. This quaint device remained in service until 1959, when the downtown foot beat was eliminated.
Chief Arthur Excell's administration would be responsible for many firsts, including the first radio-equipped patrol cars in 1941, the first 2-way radio system in 1948, the first shoulder patch, also in 1948, and the police auxiliary in 1950. During World War II, there were only two officers in addition to the Chief, and they often worked 18 hour shifts. Their lone patrol car had 300,000 miles on it when the war ended, and had outlasted three engines.
Furry officers join the ranks...
Excell retired in 1952, and Arthur C. Nielsen was promoted to chief. Nielsen moved the department into its then new station at 947 Villa Street, where he served as its chief for 19 years. Although he personified the image of an old school police chief, Nielsen was not afraid to try new things.
In 1961, Mountain View became the first department in the area to employ canines. These dogs were imported from Germany, costing upwards of a thousand dollars at a time when a new home in town cost $5000. Nielsen also embraced the emerging technology available to law enforcement, and installed the first police teletype in 1963 and the first computer system in 1967.
Gun shots...
 1967 also saw the first time an MVPD officer was shot in the line of duty. Officer Everett Tedder was shot in the leg by a delusional man, who was subsequently killed by another officer.
During Nielsen's tenure, the city grew from a tiny agricultural town to a modern metropolis with big city problems. When Nielsen retired in 1971, he was replaced by his Assistant Chief Robert K. Schatz. Schatz had been the first Mountain View officer to possess a college degree, and had come up through the ranks after serving in both the U.S. Army and Navy. Schatz retired in 1984, and was soon elected to the City Council, where he served several terms as mayor.
John C. Smith was hired to replace Schatz. Previously, Smith had been chief in Porterville, California and was the first chief hired from outside the department in half a century. It was during Smith's tenure that the long sought-after CHP retirement plan finally came to Mountain View. Smith left in 1989 after a shift in city management.
Community-oriented Policing
Former Mountain View Lieutenant Brown Taylor, who had served as chief in nearby Los Altos for several years, returned to Mountain View as Smith's replacement. Taylor planted the seeds of the department's community-oriented policing program during his six years as chief. Taylor was also the first chief to experience the mass exodus of experienced officers to smaller departments with more hospitable housing markets.
Michael Maehler replaced the retiring Taylor. Maehler began his police career in San Jose and served as chief in Concord before coming to Mountain View.
He continued Taylor's community-oriented policing programs, and sought and received accreditation from CALEA, an international organization that sets the highest standards for police agencies. Maehler also started the department's volunteer program and Citizen Police Academy.
In January, 2002, Maehler retired after 32 years in law enforcement. Scott Vermeer was selected as the new Mountain View Police Chief. Vermeer began his career in Redwood City, and had served as chief in Menlo Park before coming to Mountain View.
An Officer is Shot
Chief Vermeer hadn't even been on the job a year when what would turn out to be the wildest night in MVPD history occurred, in October 2002. A holdup alarm at a fast food restaurant signaled the beginning of the incident, and when it was over, two businesses had been robbed at gunpoint, a young police officer had been shot in the face, two police cars had bullet holes in them, and a wild chase punctuated by two traffic accidents had ended in East Palo Alto.
The injured officer, Cary Sheuh, made a speedy recovery, and was back on patrol even before the suspect was captured.
The ensuing manhunt for the shooter lasted a full week, and stretched from Southern California to Washington State. He eventually gave up without a fight in a grocery store in Beaverton, Oregon. Charged with numerous crimes, including murder, up and down the Peninsula, he pled guilty and admitted responsibility for his crimes, which made him eligible for the death penalty.
Most weeks in Mountain View are substantially quieter.
The Mountain View Police Department of today is a vastly different organization from the one-man Marshal's office of R.C. Waits. 100 sworn officers and a dedicated support staff deliver police services effectively and efficiently to a population of 75,000 people.
We Need Your Help
We're very interested in our history!
MVPD is searching for our roots and would like the chance to talk with former employees or their families about the department's history. Our ongoing history project has brought dozens of former employees back into the extended MVPD family.
If you or your family has any connection to the department, we would like to hear from you.
If you have a photo album full of old black and white pictures, or you found your dad's old badge in a handkerchief drawer, we want to hear from you!
We have hundreds of historical photographs and thousands of news clippings. We may be able to provide some insight into your loved one's time here.
Please contact Department Historian Doug Johnson, 650/903-6161 x1264. |  | Police Cars
First Police Car
1929 Ford Touring Car.
Cost $439.
Until 1953
Police cars unmarked.
In 1953 added star on door.
1955
Police cars get seat belts.
Equal Opportunity
1972
1st Female Officer
1973
1st African-American Officer
World War II Staffing
1 chief + 3 officers.
Typical 18-hour shifts.
Their only police car clocked 300,000 miles during the war.
1961
2 German immigrants join MVPD.
First local department to 'hire' police dogs
Cost: over $1,100 each.
(A new house cost $5,000.)
Catholicity
From 1971-73, MVPD employed:- Former nun, Judith Biven, as a matron.
- Former Holy Cross brother, Bill Crawford, as an officer. He retired in 2003.
FBI's 10 Most Wanted
1966
Murder of an armored car guard, in the PayLess parking lot, gave us our only criminal to make the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List.
Uniforms
1960s to mid 1980s:
Officer's shirts were French Blue, a special light blue, a widely-used police shirt color in the 60s and early 70s.
By the 80s, MVPD was the last holdout on French Blue.
The manufacturer dyed whole bolts of fabric just for us.
1987
Midnight blue shirts replace French Blue.
Former Police Chief
Robert K. Schatz - Served in both WWII (Navy) and Korea (Army).
- First MVPD officer with a college degree.
Patches & Fakes
1948 First Uniform Patch
Designed by Chief Arthur Excell.
2002 Centennial Patch
In such demand by collectors that several forgeries were discovered.
3-day Weekends
1970
First department in Northern California to implement 4-day, 10-hour workweek.
Low-tech Communications
Before the radio...
A red light hung above the intersection of Castro & Villa.
Officers drove by to check for calls.
1941
First radios installed.
One-way only, so there was no talking back!
'40s Paychecks
1941
Officer's starting salary:
$125 per month.
$1,500 per year.
Reference Prices
Average salary $2,050 per year.
Minimum wage 30¢ per hour.
Car $925.
Gasoline 19¢ per gal.
House $6,900.
Loaf of bread 8¢.
Milk 34¢ per gal.
Postage stamp 3¢.
Source: TV History
For more info...
To share historical info...
Department Historian
Doug Johnson
650/903-6161 x1264 (voicemail)
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