Monday, December 16, 2013

Police Broadcasting Stations


I recently found a list of Police band stations from 1931. There are of course much earlier published lists. But what makes this one interesting is that it's exactly 10 years after the Detroit police commissioner William Rutledge first used radio equipped vehicles in 1921. That makes this an early picture of the technology adoption curve. It's in an instant in which the word television was still uncommon. Radio magazines still listed those experiments stations as "visual broadcasters."

A decade after that innovation, the whole of America had just over 60 police radios. Today any US city with a population of over 30,000 would have more police radios than that. America now easily has over 794,300 police officers, and with numerous devices per person one can easily estimate a total number in the low millions.

When  Rutledge flipped the switch there were under 70 licensed broadcasters in the nation [Source]. By 1931 the total number of radio stations in the US at the time was just over 640. The 66 Police stations below indicate a ratio change of 1.5% to 10%. That's a really meaningful jump. Some larger metro areas already had multiple stations including New York, Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco. More here.

CALLSKILOCYCLESCITYSTATE
WPDO2458AkronOH
WPDN1712AuburnNY
KGPJ1712BeaumontTX
KSW2410BerkleyCA
WRDU1596BrooklynNY
WMJ2422BuffaloNJ
WBR257ButlerPA
KGOZ2470Cedar RapidsIA
WPDV2458CharlotteNC
WPDB1712ChicagoIL
WPDC1712ChicagoIL
WPDD1712ChicagoIL
WKDU1712CincinnatiOH
WRBH2452ClevelandOH
KVP1712DallasTX
KGPN2470DavenportIA
WKDT1596DetroitMI
WCK2410DetroitMI
WPDX2410DetroitMI
KGPF2416El PasoTX
WPDF2440FlintMI
WPDZ2470Ft. WayneIN
WPEB2440Grand RapidsMI
WJL257GreensburgPA
WRDR2410Grosse PointMI
WBA257HarrisburgPA
WMO2410Highland ParkMI
WMDZ2440IndianapolisIN
WRDS1662InghamMI
KGPE2422Kansas CityMO
WPDT2470KokomoIN
WPDL2440LansingMI
KGPL1712Los AngelesCA
WPDE2440LouisvilleKY
WPEC2470MemphisTN
WNDA2440MiamiFL
WPDK2452MilwaukeeWI
KGPB2416MinneapolisMN
WPY448New YorkNY
WPY500New YorkNY
KGPH2452Oklahoma CityOK
KGPI2470OmahaNE
KHJX1712PasadenaCA
WPDJ2416PassaicNJ
WPDP2440PhiladelphiaPA
WPDU1712PittsburghPA
KGPP2452PortlandOR
WPDH2416RichmondVA
WPDR1712RochesterNY
KGPC1712St LouisMO
WPDS2416St. PaulMN
WPDM2440St. PetersburgFL
KGOY1712San AntonioTX
KGPD1596San FranciscoCA
KGPD2410San FranciscoCA
KGPM2410San JoseCA
KGPA1596SeattleWA
KGPK2470Sioux CityIA
WPEA1712SyracuseNY
WRDQ2470ToledoOH
WPDA2416TulareCA
KGPO2452TulsaOK
KGPG2410VallejoCA
WPGW2410WashingtonDC
WDX257WyomingPA
WPDG2458YoungstownOH

2 comments:

  1. You always come up with the most interesting stuff. I did a paper on WOBU in Charleston, WV; and for a short time, the station provided police calls in the 1920s to city police.

    Have you done anything regarding shared frequencies. One of the last two stations to continue shared frequencies were WFAA & WBAP. I did a report on this back in my college days for a broadcast law and regulations class.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NICE!
    Would you consider letting me post those?

    ReplyDelete