August Vollmer's Role In Policing

August Vollmer, considered the father in the development of the field of criminal justice, was born New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1876. Vollmer was widely read and consumer many journals and publication, His only official education, beyond grade school, was in vocational courses consisting of bookkeeping, typing, and shorthand from New Orleans Academy. At age 15, his family moved to Berkeley, California, August was active in the formation of Berkeley’s volunteer fire department. Upon Vollmer’s erection in 1905 to Berkeley police department, first as sheriff and later as Berkeley’s first chief of police, Vollmer learned that police officers had very little literature and education on policing. One of Vollmer’s first acts established bicycle patrols
and later motorcycle patrols (O.W.Wilson, 1953-1954). He later went on to create the first centralized police records system. He also established a call box network and provided his officer's training in marksmanship.
The effectiveness of Vollmer’s programs grew to affect surrounding police departments and went on to affect police departments nationally (Bond, 2014). In 1908 Vollmer started the Berkley Police School, taught by himself and an Oakland police inspector; subjects included first aid, photography, sanitation laws and criminal evidence, far ahead of its time. Vollmer and his “college cop” program began close to 1919. This was a period of economic recession and many students responded, perhaps attracted by the challenge of passing intelligence tests that the department was now using to screen recruits (O.W.Wilson, 1953-1954). Nationally, Vollmer worked through many forums such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, serving as President in 1922. He served as a police consultant in cities like Kansas City, Missouri (1929), and he was directly in charge of the police study for the 1931 National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, better known as the Wickersham Report (O.W.Wilson, 1953-1954). He condemned the corruption and ineffectiveness that prevailed in most American police departments and urged the police to become a more professional unit, removal of political influence, and the adoption of modern technological methods (Vollmer, 1909-1932). After his retirement from the Berkeley in 1931, he accepted an appoint to professor of police administration in the Political Science Department at the University of California, in which he retired in 1937.
August Vollmer worked for police reform throughout the first half of the 20th century. The dispersion of his Ideas through the police executives he trained; through professional groups like the International Association of Chiefs of Police; through scholarly journals and societies; and through government surveys and reports, most notably the Wickersham Report (Vollmer, 1909-1932). Both the regionally and nationally, the press publicized the advanced practices of the Berkeley Police Department. Many urban crime commissions and police departments requested Vollmer s services as a resource. Vollmer s professionalism was rooted in the freedom of the police from political interference; it stressed technical innovations in patrol, communications, and investigation, and required a skilled, dedicated police officer.
Not only was Vollmer concerned with the policing techniques and strategies, but he also wanted to improve the well-being of his police officers. He emphasized improved wages, modern facilities, and the dignity of performing an important service. The police field was rich ground for the application of new technical advances. Bicycle patrolling was one institution of Vollmer’s modernization. Bicycle patrols were more common in urban areas. The use of bicycles instead of cars can make police officers more easily approachable, especially in low-crime areas. Bicycles are also effective crime-fighting tools when used in densely populated urban areas. The bikes are nearly silent in operation and many criminals do not realize that an approaching person on a bike is actually a police officer. Furthermore, if the criminal attempts to flee on foot, the riding police officer has a speed advantage while able to quickly dismount if necessary. The bicycles are custom designed for law enforcement use (Petty, 2006).
Centralized police records systems and computerized records systems preserve data integrity and enhance departmental efficiency. By establishing an integrated system for police records management, police departments can update, share, and access critical data via one centralized database, enhancing communication and improving the efficiency of processes across the entirety of police departments. The records include case management records and information on incidents and offenses.
Crime labs, lie detector test and fingerprinting are all very well-known type of policing introduced by the Berkeley Police Department under August Vollmer. Vollmer’s enthusiasm for scientific lie detection was a natural outcome of his stand against the third degree, and he never lost faith that new breakthroughs would eventually correct the inadequacies that plagued the use of the lie detector in a criminal investigation. John Larson, a “college cop”, student of Vollmer, who built the first lie detector in the Berkeley department, later said that he felt the technique had been turned into a form of "psychological third degree," and confessed that he sometimes regretted having had a hand in its development (National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement).

Community relations also play a major role in the modernization of policing.
The interactions among different police departments and communities allow for effective policing. Many of Vollmer’s ideas came from his associates, from police experiences in other countries, and from academic sources. Vollmer recognized the potential of these ideas and unified them into a working whole, using his energy and dedication to set a pattern for police reform that continues to this day.
For Vollmer, control of crime was the first role of the policeman and was to be accomplished by giving him better organization and techniques than were available to the criminal elements. Both Vollmer and Wilson’s policing strategies and knowledge along with many of their students have changed the way modern policing is viewed today. The technologies and support systems envisioned by these two pioneers have heavily influenced modern law enforcement. A 2008 polygraph (lie detector) report done by the National Academy of Sciences showed a median accuracy of 85 percent for polygraph tests which are still used by law officials today. Not only is the polygraph test still a tool for policing, but police departments still heavily rely on computerized databases and record systems for management. Both Vollmer and Wilson were not only successful in their own venues of policing but their policing strategies and techniques branched off to other police departments in surrounding areas and around the country. Vollmer and Wilson will continue to go down in police history as educators, police administrators, criminologists, consultants and influential leaders in policing and modern law
enforcement.