Historic Midland

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Above: Certificate awarded to
Franklin W. Manning by FBI Director
J. Edgar Hoover for having completed
the National Police Academy.
Below: Midland County’s first Public
Library, at 300 West Wall, and the
first free library established by Time
and Tide and Ninety-nine Club, the
first two clubs in Midland. This first
building was completed in 1904.
Books were donated and circulated by
Volunteer help from the Woman’s
Wednesday Club.
Plavsic caused the dissolution of the
Department of Public Safety, and, in May 1951,
both Ellington and Plavsic resigned.
C.R. “Rube” Hemingway, assistant chief, was
named Chief of Police. Hemingway reorganized
the 31-man police department into four divisions,
and improved the department in other
ways.
A disagreement between Corporation Court
Judge F.L. “Moose” Hartman and Chief
Hemingway concerning use of police records by
the court led to a fistfight on April 24, 1952 in
City Attorney Len G. McCormick’s office. Chief
Hemingway received a fractured nose and a
black eye, and, as a result, both men were asked
to resign.
Harold Wallace was appointed acting Chief,
and, on May 23, 1952, he was officially named
Chief of Police.
By 1953, the Midland Police Department
totaled 45 personnel and was equipped with
nine patrol cars and five motorcycles. On April
1 that year, the first formal inspection of personnel
and equipment was held. All members of
the force were present for the inspection, which
was conducted by Chief Wallace, Mayor Perry
Pickett and City Manager W.H. Oswalt.
In the latter part of the year, the department
requested that uniformed, non-commissioned
women be hired to serve around Midland public
schools as crossing guards.
In January 1976, Chief Wallace announced
his retirement after serving twenty-five years
with the Midland Police Department. The following
month, Vollie Wayne Gideon, then serving
as assistant chief, was named Chief of Police.
Gideon had been with the department since
1956.
Midland grew rapidly during the 1960s and
1970s and saw a corresponding upswing in the
crime rate. In the 1980s, Midland experienced
an economic “boom.” The police department
struggled along with it.
When 1985 brought an end to the boom, the
department suffered its own bust, with officers
resigning or retiring and not being replaced due
to cutbacks.
In 1986, Chief Gideon retired after 30 years
with the department and the City of Midland
launched a nationwide search to find his successor.
On December 1, 1986, Richard Czech, a
captain with the Tucson Police Department in
Tucson, Arizona, was chosen as the new Chief of
Police.
Chief Czech reorganized the department,
forming four bureaus.
On September 17, 1988 Midland voters went
to the polls to approve a public safety bond proposal,
effectively placing the Midland Police
Department on the cutting edge of police technology.
The proposal provided for a new
Communications Center equipped with stateof-the-art
equipment, including a Computer
Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, which is one of
the finest in the country.
On November 30, 1997, Chief Czech retired
from the department, and, on December 1, John
Urby, an 18-year veteran of the Midland Police
Department, was named the new Chief of Police.
42 ✦ HISTORIC MIDLAND