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On January 28, 1937 Deputy Chief John B. Shields was appointed Chief of Police. One of the first things Chief Shields did was to hire a full time mechanic, Thomas J. McGrath, to maintain the fleet. The Department made successful raids on private homes which were the sites of gambling and illegal lotteries. In 1938, Paul Edge, Walter Cahill and Joseph Lyons robbed the East Milton Savings Bank of $3091. Within 24 hours, Officer Joseph Duggan, working along with Captain Sheehan of the Boston Police, narrowed down the suspects and, with the help of an anonymous phone call to Chief Shields, closed in on the three bank robbers and an accessory. All four confessed freely to Chief Shields at the Milton Police Headquarters.
At the recommendation of the police department, the town decided to paint white lines on the streets of Milton. From 1941 until the end of World War II, the Committee on Public Safety reported that six stations had been set up to train 200 volunteers as auxiliary officers, ambulance drivers and rescue squads. During 1949 the department investigated 3110 cases. Chief Shields commended the citizens of Milton, who on several occasions, called the station to report crimes they had witnessed. These calls resulted in arrests and convictions.
On September 24, 1954 Chief John B. Shields passed away. He was appointed a special officer in June of 1914 and was Chief of Police for sixteen years. Deputy Chief Richard F. Chamberlain was placed in charge of the department following Chief Shield's death and remained in this position until a new chief was appointed. This chapter was summarized from the book Pride In Blue A History of the Milton Police Department. |
1940 brought about the measured speed trap. A car was timed with a stop watch to determine its speed. Speed was the purported caused of 221 accidents that year.
The Chief welcomed calls from citizens as they were "a great aid in prevention of crime." The chief pointed out that the congestion in the Village and East Milton "would continue until the Town is bypassed by a superhighway." |
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