October 18, 2018

The Tudor City POLICE FORCE

1930 brochure detail.








Tudor City had its own private police force from the very beginning, a service that was part of its sales pitch. They were foot patrolmen ‒ a breed that's all but vanished from city streets.

Below, Tudor City's police force posed in front of No. 5 in 1938, in a picture that originally ran on the cover of Tudor City View. The original caption below the picture.

Proud are we of this month's cover, with its stalwart guardians and peace officers. They are, from left to right, Jerry Fallon, Harry Robinson, Denis McCarthy and James Quinn, all good men and true, and who are known by more residents than any other of our uniformed staff.
It's unclear how long the private force patrolled the enclave. There's a suggestion that they were still on duty in 1953, as seen in this still from the French film, L'Ennemi Public No. 1, shot on the Tudor City Bridge.

That's the French movie star Fernandel, having such a heated conversation with his companion that he draws the attention of a cop. The scene implies that there were still foot patrolmen in the enclave, but it is, after all, a movie. The picture is said to be the first feature ever shot on location in Tudor City. More about it here.

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