The police on the street (signs)

JERRY PERSON

Let’s see. Belshe, Bergey, Biddle and Blossom are not listed and

neither are Darst, Mosier, Reed or Tinsley.

These were all names of former Huntington Beach police officers

that I was searching for in my map book to see if any of our

Huntington Beach streets carry the same names.

This was in response to an e-mail from Huntington Beach Police

Officer Jeff Huss asking if I would devote a column on some of our

local streets that were named for former police officers, or at least

carry the same last name.

So we’ll begin with our first “police street” -- Archer Circle --

that well could have been named for Sgt. Henry Archer, a popular

officer in the department.

Archer joined our police department in 1952 as a patrolman and,

during his years with the force, worked his way up to detective in

the identification bureau. In 1967, while riding his motorcycle near

the Salton Sea, Archer skidded on some loose gravel and his

motorcycle overturned, fatally injuring him.

Could Grant Drive be named for one of our popular police chiefs?

Harvey Lester “Les” Grant was born on a small farm in Williamson

County, Ill., on April 8, 1899. Just after World War I ended, he

married Bernice Felts and the two operated a grocery store in Marion,

Ill., before they moved to Florida where Les got a job with the local

fire department.

In 1927, the Grants moved to Huntington Beach and Les went to work

for Standard Oil and the Ring Oil Company. On April 1, 1930, Les

Grant joined our police force as a patrolman. He was appointed by the

city council as police chief on April 20, 1936.

When our town voters decided to make the position of police chief

an elected one, Grant became the first elected police chief in Orange

County on Nov. 9, 1937.

In 1939, Grant was involved in a motorcycle accident from which he

never fully recovered. He passed away on May 12, 1941.

Now Prince Drive must certainly be named for Leslie James Prince,

the second Huntington Beach police officer to die in the line of

duty.

It happened on Dec. 1, 1974, while he was directing traffic at the

darkened intersection of Beach Blvd. and Adams Avenue. He was struck

and killed by a drunk driver.

Reynolds Circle must surely be named for Huntington Beach’s first

town constable -- George A. Reynolds. In May 1903, Reynolds, his wife

Anna and their two children, Vada and Leman, moved to our town when

it was still called Pacific City.

The Reynolds family left Huntington Beach for Santa Ana so as to

be near a hospital for the birth of Anna’s third child. But after

George Jr. was born, the family returned to Huntington Beach in May

1904.

A friend of Reynolds, Huntington Beach Realtor John Dubuis,

convinced the Orange County supervisors that our town needed a town

constable and that Reynolds would be the best man for the job. So in

1905, the supervisors agreed and appointed him as our first town

constable.

Reynolds served only five months as town constable, as more

pressing needs arose, but he did at least receive $50 for the time.

He turned in his guns and, for good measure, threw his badge into the

ocean.

He and his family left Huntington Beach in 1910, but returned for

a short time in 1913 before moving out of our town for good in 1927

to live in East Los Angeles.

It was in Platteville, Colo., on Feb. 6, 1906, that Howard Francis

Robidoux (Robidoux Drive) was born. In 1924, Robidoux moved to

Huntington Beach where, on March 18, 1929, Police Chief Charles

Stewart (Stewart Street) appointed him as a patrolman on our force.

Over the next 36 years, he would rise up the ranks to someday become

chief himself.

Chief George Gelzer on March 4, 1935 fired Robidoux for

insubordination, but he was reinstated on March 16, 1936. He became a

lieutenant on July 1, 1950, and was made a captain on Oct. 1, 1953.

Robidoux and his wife Elma would make Huntington Beach their

permanent home when he became our town’s last elected police chief in

April 1962. When Robidoux died on June 17, 1964, our town’s mayor Don

Shipley ordered all municipal flags to be flown at half-staff.

When George Reynolds resigned in 1905 as town constable, the town

officials appointed Ervin L. Vincent (Vincent Circle) as constable to

patrol the town limits on foot or on his bicycle. In 1912, Vincent

became city marshal and held that position until he resigned in 1914.

Another of our town’s early constables was R.H. Winslow (Winslow

Drive), and there are many other officers that carry names of some of

our streets such as: Bert Harding (Harding Circle), Alfred and Elmer

Parker (Parker Circle), Chris Spurney (Spurney Lane) and George

Taylor (Taylor Avenue and Drive).

Huss would like to believe that Kim Court and Fox Circle could

have been named for two former Huntington Beach police service dogs.

These men and women in blue surely deserve to be remembered in

some way.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.