ALBION AUXILIARY POLICE - Historical Albion Michigan

We continue with our theme this month of City of Albion-related photographs. Did you know that Albion once had an auxiliary police force? Albion’s Police Department maintained a group of Auxiliary Police which was part of Albion’s Civil Defense program during the Cold War of the 1950s. It served as a back-up to our regular police force. Albion was booming during this time, and more police were added to the force to accommodate the nearly 13,000 residents which lived here.

The Auxiliary Police were used mainly as “extra help” for traffic control at special community events and at parades. Their traffic control training was designed to come in handy in case a pre-attack evacuation order was given for our city. They were also trained to handle large panic-stricken crowds fleeing a disaster in Albion. Their training sessions occurred each Wednesday night in City Hall and were taught by Albion Police Department Sergeant Carl Hatch. Lessons were taught on first aid, making arrests, fingerprinting people, and the usual police procedures at the time.

Their uniforms included a Civil Defense patch worn on the left shoulder, a Civil Defense badge on the hat, and also on the shirt, and a Civil Defense helmet. The shoulder patch contained the familiar triangular-shaped “CD” emblem in the center, with the words “Auxiliary Police” around the perimeter. The Civil Defense program here was headed up by its director, Harold Bussing.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph circa 1956 showing the Albion Auxiliary Police force members. Front row left to right: Gaylord Sadger, Donald McCullough, Auxiliary Police Chief Phil Carrier, and Charles Prescott. Back row: Vaud Pickens, Willis McCoy, Larry Kittinger, Dean Kemler, Clifford Jenkins. How many of our readers remember the Albion Auxiliary Police?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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