The Police chase scenes in old movies, where the guys are hanging on the car, riding on the running boards on the outside of the car, going what seemed to be about 80MPH (probably more like 35), are always exciting to watch…looking like a gang of cops ready to take care of anybody who gets in their way, not scared of other traffic, or even a slip. Then I started reading more of these fallen officer memorial plaques, and noticed running boards involved in several of them. I never thought about the danger of these awesome holders of heroes, or the fact they stopped making them for a reason. Below are a few tragic stories of fallen officers and these deadly car accessories, and way I started thinking about them much more.
1)- On December 9, 1913, Officer Thomas Madden and his partner pulled over some joy riders at 2am near Woodward and Bethune. The joy riders shot at the police, shooting Officer Madden in the stomach. Officer Madden, the manly type of man he was, jumped onto the side running boards and ordered the joy riders to stop. But the car hit a curb knocking Officer Madden to the ground where he died. One wonders if there were no running boards would Officer Madden have succumbed to his gun shot wound or live to die another day?
2)-This next one makes me think, guys jumping off of these running boards back in the day usually meant they were bad guys. Officer Gordon Davis and his partner were on patrol July 18, 1918 when they saw a vehicle they believed to be wanted for an earlier hit and run accident at Gratiot and Mack. They commandeered a vehicle and told the driver to give chase, while they ride on the running boards, or course. When the driver lost the car they were chasing at some railroad tracks, they ordered the driver to stop, jumped off the running boards and were shot at by police in a vehicle behind them that assumed that Officer Davis and his partner were riding on the wanted vehicle and trying to escape. Officer Davis was killed. One has to wonder, if he actually got in the vehicle instead of riding on the running boards and drove the car, would he have lost the wanted vehicle or caught it and lived to die another day?
3)-The day of October 25, 1924, and the loss of Officer Fred Breslin, makes me think a little deeper about these Running boards. Certainly the cars were big enough to carry more than a couple people and how much time did they save jumping on and off the running boards as opposed to jumping in and out a car? Officer Breslin witnessed a young child get hit by a car. He grabbed the child, stopped a car, put the child in the car, and, of course, got on those running boards to ride to the hospital, blowing his whistle to traffic. Well, the car got hit by a truck and Officer Breslin lost his life. Now, one may wonder, if he got in the car with the kid, or drove the car, would he have lived to die another day?
Detroit Police Fallen Hero stories 