People: Law and Order

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Our Only Sheriff – 1891
Sheriffs in America during the 19th and 20th centuries were modeled after their English counterpart. Usually associated with a person at the county level, their job encompassed general law enforcement, maintaining the jail, serving warrants/civil paper, county administrator and coroner. They also seized money and property as liens through a court order, held auctions periodically to liquidate such properties, and acted as executor of the estates of deceased persons without wills or relations. Interestingly enough, some towns had Sheriff’s, who acted a the law within the town and immediate surrounding areas.

We never had a Sheriff in Gilman/Issaquah other than S. L. McDonald in 1891, who was sent by the Governor from Tacoma, along with the militia during the mine unrest. His stay of three weeks was during the period before our incorporation and appointment of John McQuade, the first Marshal of Gilman Township.

Marshals – 1892 to 1957
Marshals are usually associated with towns and cities and perform general law enforcement duties, as well as maintaining a jail, serving civil papers, and numerous other duties not generally associated with a peace officer. In Issaquah’s case, the Marshal graded the dirt streets, controlled livestock from being a nuisance on the roads, cut and cleared bushes and brambles from the roadside, repaired wooden sidewalks, and maintained the street lights!

Chiefs – 1957 to present
The Issaquah City Council formally established the Police Department in 1957 with Paul Bell as the first Chief of Police. It was a two-man show back then, consisting of Chief Bell and Sergeant Tom Bass. One of the first things Paul did was to secure funds to purchase new badges for himself and Tom. They could hardly sport the “Marshal” badges they had on hand.

Paul and Tom also bought new uniforms and guns out of their own pockets, which in those days was not uncommon as city funds were scarce. The Police Department eventually operated out of two rooms situated on the second floor of the old city hall. The in-resident dispatcher received calls for service and used an AM radio system to communicate with the Police and Fire Departments.

Before the radio was installed, if an officer was needed the dispatcher would flip a switch and a pole-mounted red light bulb would go on at the ball field. The patrolling officer would see the light and either come or call in to the station.