Caprock Chronicles: Lubbock Police Department centennial
Monte Monroe
Editor’s Note: The Caprock Chronicles are edited by Jack Becker a retired Texas Tech librarian. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Today’s article is by Monte Monroe, Ph.D. He is an archivist at the Southwest/Special Collection Library on the campus of Texas Tech University.
On May 11, 2021, the mayor and city council officially recognized the Lubbock Police Department for 100 years of service, hosting a public exhibit in the lobby of Citizens Tower and by proclamation.
The LPD’s growth followed patterns of cities elsewhere during nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sheriffs, night watchmen, and city marshals addressed law enforcement during the early years, as well as after Lubbock’s incorporation in 1909. City marshal’s duties ranged from maintaining peace and preventing accidents between automobiles and horses.