Historically the gateway to the beautiful majestic redwoods of the Pacific Northwest, Petaluma is located approximately
60 miles north of San Francisco along the US 101 highway corridor. Petaluma is also the gateway to the
famous California wine regions of Sonoma and Napa counties.
In the mid-1800s, Petaluma was a key port to Northern California conveniently situated
on the Petaluma River, a direct shipping route to the major ports in San Francisco.
On April 12, 1858, the town of Petaluma incorporated
and became a California city. Its incorporation 150 years ago created the Petaluma Police Department.
As with most cities across the country, the automobile became popular and traffic collision rates began to climb.
Traffic collision fatalities became a national issue.
Realizing the mobility and reliability of the motorcycles produced by Harley-Davidson
Motorcycle Company, law enforcement agencies began using motorcycles for traffic enforcement. Harley-Davidson
Motorcycle Company delivered their first police motorcycle to the Pittsburg Police Department in 1908.
Petaluma Police Department
has a long history of traffic safety is evidenced by the hand-engraved sterling silver seven-point star manufactured by Irvine
and Jachen’s Badge Company of San Francisco on January 5, 1927. The special TRAFFIC badge was made
for Floyd Drake, the first Petaluma Police Department motorcycle officer. The earliest photograph of Drake
on his motorcycle is from 1930. The image shows the entire department posing with then Chief of Police
Robert E. Peters. Floyd Drake is sitting on his personally owned ’28 Harley-Davidson JD 74ci Police
motorcycle. The motorcycle was white with red striping. In the second photo is a similarly
restored H-D police motorcycle from 1927.
In 1936, Floyd Drake retired and went onto become the bridge tender for the D Street Draw Bridge.
That same year, Officer Melvin “Noonie” Del Maestro began his career as a motorcycle officer riding a 1934
Harley-Davidson 74ci Flat head. The motorcycle was silver and black. Del Maestro wore
a tan uniform with a motorcycle cap, baggy pants and leather boots. Maestro went on to become chief of
police working for the police department for 34 years.
Officer Del Maestro was promoted after riding just a few years and Officer Don
Noriel took over motorcycle enforcement for a short period. Officer Noriel was replaced by Al Bigelow who
rode from about 1938 to 1948. Pictured is Officer Bigelow stopped next to Petaluma Fire Department on D
Street riding a 1946 Harley-Davidson Knuckle Head 61ci engine with a specially ordered three-speed instead of a four-speed
transmission. The motorcycle was painted silver and had a windshield covered with half canvas and half
clear plastic. The black leather jacket with sterling silver TRAFFIC badge he’s wearing in the photo
are on display at the Petaluma Historical Museum.
Sometime around 1949 or 1950 the department purchased a three-wheeler used for
parking enforcement in the downtown area. The department would later purchase a second three-wheel motorcycle.
The picture below shows four officers, two cars, a motorcycle and a three-wheeler in 1948. The motor
officer on the left is Al Bigelow and the motor officer on the right is Ed Gilmore. The second picture
shows the entire department in approximately 1950. You can see the 1946 H-D motorcycle parked between the
two black-and-white Harley-Davidson three-wheelers.
After Officer Bigelow, Officer Dale Moore rode the motorcycle for a short time.
Officer Charlie Potter took over for Moore and rode until about 1953. Officers at the time had to
do double-duty working the ambulance on occasion. When an ambulance call was received, the ambulance driver
would drive to the police station and pick up an officer. Officer Potter was riding to the police station
for an ambulance call when he struck an object in the road causing him to go down. The ambulance was forced
to take him to the hospital and a second ambulance to the medical call. Potter was seriously injured and did not return to
motorcycle duty.
Officer Hank Eslick was selected
to replace Officer Potter. Seen in the photo, Officer Eslick is sitting on a brand new black-and-white
1953 Harley-Davidson Hydra-Glide Pan Head 74ci motorcycle. This photograph was taken in front of his house
on Baker Street. In 2008 we recreated this photograph with our new 2008 Harley-Davidson Police Electric-Glide
motorcycle taken in the same position.
In 1959, the department purchased a brand-new black-and-white 1959 Harley-Davidson
Duo-Glide Pan Head 74ci motorcycles. As you can see in the original photo, the siren was mounted on the
front fender and would engage the tire when the siren cable was pulled.
In 1968, Chief Del Maestro retired and was replaced by Chief Larry D. Higgins.
By 1968, the 1959 Duo-Glide motorcycle was nearing its life expectancy. The city manage at the time
felt to purchase a new motorcycle was too costly and not necessary; therefore, the motorcycle was not replaced.
Finnerty was promoted to the rank of sergeant and tired to purchase the 1959 H-D he rode. The city
sent the motorcycle to auction without letting him know and the whereabouts of the motorcycle are still unknown.
The presence of a police motorcycle
on the streets of Petaluma was non-existent for almost 30 years. In 1998, Chief of Police Pat Parks obtained
approval from the city to reinstitute the police motorcycle unit. With grant funding from the California
Office of Traffic Safety, the department purchased two all-white 1998 Harley-Davidson FLHP Police Road Kings.
The first two officers selected
to ride the new motorcycles where Officer Steve Johnson and Officer Craig Seekon. After Craig Seekon retired,
Ken Savano was selected to the unit and rode from 1999 to 2001.
Motor Officer Ken Savano was promoted to sergeant in 2001. That
same year, Officer Dave Cormier and Officer Bert Walker were selected to the unit. Motor Sergeant Tim Lyons
took over as the supervisor of the Traffic Unit. Under the leadership of Police Chief Steve Hood, the Motor
Unit continued to expand. Grant funding made it possible to add two more motorcycles, including a riding
sergeant’s position. The unit in 2002 consisted of Sergeant Tim Lyons, and Motor Officers Bert Walker,
Steve Johnson and Ron Klein. The Department continued to use new black and white Harley-Davidson Police
Road Kings.
In 2004, thanks to another
OTS grant, a fifth motorcycle was added, and Officer Rob Hawkins was selected to ride. Featured in the
photo is the unit in 2007. From left to right is Officer Rob Hawkins, Officer Ron Klein, Sergeant Tim Lyons,
Officer Steve Johnson, and Officer Bert Walker: Petaluma Police Department Motor Unit 2007.
In 2007, OTS funded another
nighttime motorcycle officer position to combat DUI drivers. Officer Walt Spiller became the sixth motorcycle
officer. In 2007, the Department began purchasing black-and-white Harley-Davidson police motorcycles with
Houston Police Department paint scheme. We also just recently purchased our first black-and-white H-D Police
Electra-Glide. In January 2008, Sergeant Lyons was promoted to lieutenant and Sergeant Ken Savano took
over as the new motor sergeant.
As our department celebrates its 150th Sesquicentennial Anniversary, we are proud of the
Motor Units history in our community. While many departments experiment with different types of motorcycles
for different reasons, municipal motorcycle traffic enforcement in Petaluma continues to follow our proven tradition with
Harley-Davidson, whose reliability and dependability in Petaluma have been demonstrated for more than 80 years.
