When Bergen County's flamboyant Police Chief Peter J. Siccardi organized the first aerial police force in the United States, he was able to recruit some of the nation's best known aviation personalities to participate. Anthony Fokker donated an airplane and Bernt Balchen, Clyde Pangborn, Leon Allen and Hugh Wells joined County Patrolman Charles LoPresti, a licensed pilot, as Deputy County Officers. To demonstrate the use of the plane, Siccardi kept traffic moving prior to the 1929 air show for the benefit of the Elks Crippled Kiddies Fund. To help raise money for the children, aviators volunteered their services. Warren Smith, flying a New Standard biplane, astounded the crowd by making an outside loop, putting him among the first five pilots in America to achieve that feat. Duke Krantz gave his last wing-walking exhibition, and Charles Massa of Paterson attempted to set a new parachute altitude record when he bailed out a 15,000 feet.
After it's initial burst on the scene, the Flying Police Force became dormant when the plane was damaged and the county Freeholders refused to provide funds for its repair. In 1931, mechanics at the Fokker plant decided to repair the plane and in August, Billy Diehl, accompanied by Patrolman LoPresti, took it up for a test flight. Siccardi announced that there would be no designated patrols, and that the plane would be used only when there was a special need. The plane proved its worth a few months later, when Pangborn flew a deathly sick patient from Teterboro Airport to Bergen Pines Hospital in Paramus for emergency treatment. Pangborn was forced to land on a small farm that bordered the hospital grounds. For his heroic humanitarian efforts, the Bergen County Chamber of Commerce awarded him a gold watch.
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Micah Hassinger, Systems
Administrator and Webmaster
Copyright © 1998-2006 Bergen County Police Department. All rights reserved.
Revised: February. 20, 2003