1960's

1960: NBPD Gets New Headquarters and Patrol Cars

New HQ - 1960 - small
ABOVE: In January of 1960, NBPD’s 13-member police force moved out of the headquarters located in the basement of City Hall on N. Seguin Avenue and moved into their new headquarters, located on Hill Avenue, next to the city’s Central Fire Station in the downtown area.  The cost of the new police station, according to the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, was $17,739.  Three new Ford police cars were also purchased from Bock Motor Company at a cost of $2,023.91.  Each car came equipped with emergency red lights, sirens, loudspeakers, and automatic transmissions.
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LEFT: NBPD Officers pose for a picture outside of the new headquarters building on Hill Avenue.

Pictured (from left to right):
Victor Campos, Sylvester Beck, Roy Braker, Dan Reeves, Stephen Tunnell, B.C. Ely, John Breslin, Elmer Zipp, Chief Weldon Davidson, Sgt. George Aderhold, Milton B. Pospisil, Sgt. Alton Brehm, & Sgt. Victor Striegler.

1960 - Confiscated Weapons

RIGHT:  From the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung:  

Chief Weldon Davidson points out the display of weapons confiscated from prisoners during his tenure as police chief.    The board of knives, bayonets, clubs, cleavers, ice-picks, whips, chains, shears, blackjacks, and firearms” was displayed in his office at the new Police Department headquarters.
Davidson Shows Weapons - 1960 - small

1962: Roy Braker Becomes Sixth Chief of Police

Roy Braker - small


ABOVE: Roy Braker (left) served in the U.S. Army during WWII before becoming a patrol officer for NBPD, following in his father’s footsteps (W.M. Braker was an NBPD officer for 25 years).  The younger Braker spent 4½ years on the force before being appointed as the city’s sixth Chief of Police, serving in that capacity from 1962 until he retired in 1968.   
RIGHT: NBPD group photograph circa 1963.  Chief Roy Braker is seated on the far left.
NBPD in 1963 - small

1963: NBPD Begins Use of Radar Unit for Speed Control

Radar 1963 - small
ABOVE: In August of 1963, the speed limit on all streets in New Braunfels was 30mph (unless otherwise posted). Yet there had already been 190 accidents that year, with 3 fatalities, 61 injuries, resulting in 151 arrests, and about $64,000 in property damage, according to a report in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.  So NBPD began use of a one-man radar apparatus that was purchased in order “to cut down accidents and because of numerous complaints from residents about ‘hot-rodders.’”

1967: Crash Totals NBPD Police Car

RIGHT: In June of 1967, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung reported that a car crash totaled an NBPD police car.  The accident happened near the crest of a hill on Highway 81 near Academy Street.  The police car, driven by Patrolman James O’Connell, struck a vehicle that was turning onto Academy, causing the police car to hit the curb.  That’s when the police car skidded a few feet before flipping “through the air one-and-a-half times,” landing on its roof.  The car was a total loss and O’Connell was rushed to the hospital.  Fortunately, he was later released with only scratches and bruises.  A Highway Patrolman investigated the accident and said that the officer’s seat belt saved his life.
Police Car Crash - 1967 - small

1968: Larry Beauchamp Becomes Seventh Chief of Police

Larry Beauchamp - 1969 - small
LEFT: Larry Beauchamp (left) congratulating Patrolman Roy Street (right) for scoring 99.5, the highest grade ever made in the general police training school at Texas A&M University’s Police Training Division Extension Service.   

Beauchamp served as the Chief of Police in New Braunfels for 4 years from 1968 to 1972.  He also has the distinction of being the first Chief of Police to serve his entire term under the newly adopted City Council/City Manager form of government.  

1968: NBPD Officers Receive Advanced First Aid Training

RIGHT: New Braunfels Police officers completing their advanced first aid training from the American Red Cross. 

The 35-hour course concluded with a day-long “hands-on” training exercise that included removing patients from vehicles, CPR, placing victims on gurneys, and carrying patients down large flights of stairs.
First Aid Training - 1968 - small

1968: Police Safety Cruiser Crash

Safety Cruiser Crash 1 - 1968 - small
ABOVE: New Braunfels Police officers also operated the Police Safety Cruiser, which acted as an ambulance service before EMS was added to the New Braunfels Fire Department.  This Cruiser was damaged during a traffic accident in 1968 at the intersection of Landa Street and Walnut Avenue.