NYPD (Black and) Blue
by Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt was president of the New York Police Board before he took up his big stick. The following was published (under a different title, no doubt) in 'The Century Magazine' in 1894. A shorter version also made an appearance in his autobiography.

The members of the bicycle squad, which was established soon after we took office, soon grew to show not only extraordinary proficiency on the wheel, but extraordinary daring. They frequently stopped runaways, wheeling alongside of them, grasping the horses while going at full speed; and what was even more remarkable, they managed not only to overtake, but to jump into the vehicle and capture, on two or three different occasions, men who were guilty of reckless driving, and who fought violently in resisting arrest. They were picked men, being young and active, and any feat of daring which could be accomplished on the wheel they were certain to accomplish.

Three of the best riders of the bicycle squad, whose names and record happen to occur to me, were men of the three ethnic strains most strongly represented in the New York police force, being respectively of native American, German, and mixed Scotch and Irish parentage.

The German was a man of enormous power, and he was able to stop each of the many runaways he tackled without losing his wheel. Choosing his time, he would get alongside the horse and seize the bit in his left hand, keeping the right hand on the crossbar of the wheel. By degrees he then got the animal under control. He never failed to stop it, and never lost his wheel. He also never failed to overtake any 'scorcher', although many of these were professional riders who deliberately violated the law to see if they could not get away from him; for the wheelmen soon get to know the officers whose beats they cross.

The Yankee, though a tall, powerful man, scarcely came up to the German in either respect; he possessed exceptional ability, however, as well as exceptional nerve and coolness, and he won his promotion first. He stopped about as many runaways; but where the horse was really panic-stricken, he usually had to turn his wheel loose, getting a firm grip on the horse's reins, and then kicking his wheel so that it would fall out of the way of injury from the wagon. On one occasion he had a fight with a drunken and reckless driver who was urging to top speed a very spirited horse. He first got hold of the horse, whereupon the driver lashed both him and the beast, and the animal, already mad with terror, could not be stopped. The officer had of course kicked away his wheel at the beginning, and after being dragged along for some distance he let go of the beast, and made a grab at the wagon. The driver hit him with the whip, but he managed to get in, and after a vigorous tussle overcame his man, and disposed of him by getting him down and sitting on him. This left his hands free for the reins. By degrees he got the horse under control, and drove the wagon round to the station-house, still sitting on his victim.

"I jounced up and down on him to keep him quiet when he turned ugly," he remarked to me parenthetically. Having disposed of the wagon, he took the man round to the court, and on the way the later suddenly sprang on him, and tried to throttle him. Convinced at last that patience had ceased to be a virtue, he quieted his assailant with a smash on the head that took all the fight out of him until he was brought before the judge and fined. Like the other 'bicycle cops' this officer made a number of arrests of criminals, such as thieves, highwaymen, and the like, in addition to his natural prey -- scorchers, runaways, and reckless drivers.

The third member of the trio, a tall sinewy man with flaming red hair, which rather added to the terror he inspired in evil-doers, was usually stationed in a rather tough part of the city, where there was a tendency to crimes of violence, and incidentally an occasional desire to harass wheelmen. The officer was as good off his wheel as on it, and he speedily established perfect order on his beat, being always willing to 'take chances' in getting his man. He was no respecter of persons, and when it became his duty to arrest a wealthy man for persistently refusing to have his carriage-lamps lighted after nightfall, he brought him in with the same indifference that he displayed in arresting a street-corner tough who had thrown a brick at a wheelman.

We found this in Bike Culture 8, there entitled 'Roosevelt's Heroes' and reprinted with thanks to Hans-Erhard Lessing.