The Coal and Iron Police was a

private police Private police or special police are law enforcement bodies that are owned or controlled (or owned and controlled) by non-governmental entities. Additionally, the term can refer to an off-duty police officer while working for a private entity, ...

force in the US state of Pennsylvania that existed between 1865 and 1931. It was established by the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

but employed and paid by the various coal companies. The origins of the Coal and Iron Police begin in 1865.

Law enforcement in Pennsylvania This is a list of law enforcement agencies in the state of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania says it has more police departments than any other state in the country. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2008 ''Census of State and Local L ...

at that time (and until 1905) existed only on the county level or below; an elected sheriff was the primary law enforcement officer (for each county). The case was made by the coal and iron operators that they required additional protection of their property. Thus the

Pennsylvania State Legislature The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

passed State Act 228. This empowered the railroads to organize private police forces. In 1866, a supplement to the act was passed extending the privilege to "embrace all corporations, firms, or individuals, owning, leasing, or being in possession of any colliery, furnace, or rolling mill within this commonwealth". The 1866 supplement also stipulated that the words "coal and iron police" appear on their badges. A total of over 7,632 commissions were given for the Coal and Iron Police.

Strike breakers

The first Coal and Iron Police were established in

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the popula ...

, under the supervision of the

Pinkerton Detective Agency Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton ...

. Although the Coal and Iron Police nominally existed solely to protect property, in practice the companies used them as strikebreakers. The coal miners called them "

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

s" and "Yellow Dogs". For one dollar each, the state sold to the mine and steel mill owners commissions conferring police power upon whomever the owners selected. Common gunmen,

hoodlums A hoodlum is a thug, usually in a group of misfits who are associated with crime or theft. Early use The earliest reference to the word "hoodlum" was in the December 14, 1866, ''San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin'' after the Hoodlum Band was ...

, and adventurers were often hired to fill these commissions and they served their own interests by causing the violence and terror that gave them office. The Coal and Iron Police worked with the Pinkertons, particularly with a

labor spy Labor spying in the United States had involved people recruited or employed for the purpose of gathering intelligence, committing sabotage, sowing dissent, or engaging in other similar activities, in the context of an employer/labor organization r ...

by the name of

James McParland James McParland (''né'' McParlan; 1844, County Armagh, Ireland – 18 May 1919, Denver, Colorado) was an American private detective and Pinkerton agent. McParland arrived in New York in 1867. He worked as a laborer, policeman and then in Chica ...

, to suppress the

Molly Maguires The Molly Maguires were an Irish 19th-century secret society active in Ireland, Liverpool and parts of the Eastern United States, best known for their activism among Irish-American and Irish immigrant coal miners in Pennsylvania. After a seri ...

Beginning of the end

The end of the Coal and Iron Police began in 1902 during what became known as The Anthracite Coal Strike. It began May 15 and lasted until October 23. The strike led to violence throughout seven counties and caused a nationwide coal shortage, driving up the price of

anthracite coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...

. The strike did not end until

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

intervened. In the aftermath of the strike, there was growing determination that peace and order should be maintained by regularly appointed and responsible officers employed by the public. This led to the formation of the

Pennsylvania State Police The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police is a full service law enforcement agency which handles both traffic and cr ...

on May 2, 1905, when Senate Bill 278 was signed into law by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Samuel W. Pennypacker Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker (April 9, 1843 – September 2, 1916) was an American politician serving as the List of governors of Pennsylvania, 23rd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1903 to 1907. He also served Pennsylvania as a judge and wrote abo ...

. The stated purpose was to act as fire, forest, game and fish wardens, and to protect the farmers, but some observers felt that it really was to serve the interests of the coal and iron operators because the same legislation created a "trespassing offense" that wherever a warning sign was displayed a person could be arrested and fined ten dollars. This was seen as a direct assault on

picketing Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the pick ...

. In August 1911 a Coal and Iron Policeman/Deputy Constable Edgar Rice of

Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coatesville is a city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike beginning ...

, was shot and killed by Zachariah Walker; Walker was lynched. However, the Coal and Iron Police continued to exist even after the establishment of the state police. Indeed, a July 25, 1922, article in the ''Johnstown Tribune'' noted that additional Coal and Iron Police were hired during the national coal miner's strike in 1922.

Michael Musmanno Michael Angelo Musmanno (April 7, 1897 – October 12, 1968) was an American jurist, politician, and naval officer. Coming from an immigrant family, he started to work as a coal loader at the age of 14. After serving in the United States Army in ...

, in 1929 a Pennsylvania state legislator, fought to banish the Coal and Iron Police after they had beaten worker

John Barkoski John Barcoski (also spelled as Barkoski, Borkovski, or Barkowsky; December 15, 1889 – February 10, 1929) was a Polish émigré miner brutally beaten to death by Pennsylvania's Coal and Iron Police on February 10, 1929. His passing and subsequen ...

to death. The final disbandment was helped along by Musmanno's writing a short story based on the case, which was adapted into the 1935 film '' Black Fury''. Decades later Musmanno released a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

of the same name. In 1931, then-Governor

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

refused to renew or issue new private police commissions, thereby effectively ending the industrial police system in Pennsylvania."Industrial Police"
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' February 9, 1931. The reasons for his act are not clear and may have included political payback for his defeat in a 1926 campaign by a candidate from

Indiana County Indiana County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the west central part of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 83,246. Its county seat is Indiana. Indiana County comprises the Indiana, PA Mi ...

who had the strong support of the coal and steel operators, as a political gesture to the rising labor movement of the 1930s, out of personal disgust with the excesses of the Coal and Iron Police, or some combination thereof. His official statement indicates the latter, in reference to an assault perpetrated by a couple of Iron Policemen. The brutality of the Coal and Iron Police forms the background to some sections in

Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...

's ''U.S.A.'' trilogy, focusing on miners' struggles and strikes in Pennsylvania. The Coal and Iron Police also feature in the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

novel, ''

The Valley of Fear ''The Valley of Fear'' is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is loosely based on the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first published in the ''Strand Magazine ...

'', which is based loosely on the breaking of the

Strike breakers

Beginning of the end

See also

References

Further reading