Junior safety patrol is a voluntary group of

crossing guard A crossing guard (North American English), lollipop man/lady (British, Irish, and Australian English), crosswalk attendant (also Australian English), or school road patrol (New Zealand English) is a traffic management personnel who is normally ...

s involving older

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

s helping younger students cross streets in

elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...

and

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

s across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Both the Chicago Motor Club and the St. Paul Police started programs in 1920. As of 1995, safety patrol members were located in 76 percent of the communities across the United States. AAA clubs across the United States and Canada sponsor the 500,000 member safety patrol program in 50,000 schools. Local AAA clubs supply training materials, badges and other materials, including the orange or neon green

Sam Browne belt The Sam Browne is a leather belt with a supporting strap that passes over the right shoulder, worn by military and police officers. It is named after Sir Samuel J. Browne (1824–1901), the British Indian Army general who invented it. Origins ...

, needed to organize and operate a school safety patrol program. Former safety patrol members include

U.S. Presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in pa ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

; Dr.

Gary S. Becker Gary Stanley Becker (; December 2, 1930 – May 3, 2014) was an American economist who received the 1992 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was a professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago, and was a leader of ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

;

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

John Warner; former

Michigan Governor The governor of Michigan, is the head of government of Michigan and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws; the power to either approve or veto appropriation bills passed b ...

William Milliken William Grawn Milliken (March 26, 1922 – October 18, 2019) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 44th governor of Michigan. A member of the Republican Party, he is the longest-serving governor in Michigan history, servin ...

;

Joe Garagiola Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. (February 12, 1926 – March 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, later an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality. Garagiola played nine seasons in Major League Basebal ...

, member of the

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; Lee Iacocca, former Chairman of the

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, and; Chief Justice

Warren E. Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...

, along with Burns Fessler and 21

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

History

Early, the role of students in the junior safety patrol was to "teach

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

and role model it." Student members were taught to "direct children, not traffic," as they had authority over the students as they crossed streets, but did not have any authority over vehicular traffic on the streets. Stamp US AAA 50th Anniversary 3-cent

With the rising use of automobiles and the attendant concerns for the well-being of

s as they walked to

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

, the Chicago Motor Club and the St. Paul Police pursued the concept of School Safety Patrols in 1920. That year

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Councilman and Public Safety Commissioner Aloysius Smith, requested that the St. Paul Police start a Police program for the youth. Origins of the School Safety Patrol, 1921, MNOPEDIA, Minnesota Historical Society website, Eric W. Weber, St. Paul, Minnesota, published: October 29, 201

/ref> Sergeant Frank Hetznecker was chosen to administer the program. To start it focused on the public schools. Sgt. Hetznecker approached the St. Paul archdiocese to see if the parochial schools wanted to participate and they did. The headmistress of

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

school, Sister Carmela Hanggi was a very strong promoter of the program. During the fall of 1920 750 students signed up for the training program and in February 1921 the first student monitored crossing took place with students from

school. Sgt. Hetznecker would introduce the

and badge that became synonymous with school patrol across the country and administered St. Paul's program for 30 years. The

Omaha Police Department The Omaha Police Department (OPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States o ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

instituted safety patrol program in 1923. A safety patrol was instituted in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

in 1928, with

Seattle Police Department The Seattle Police Department (SPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, United States, except for the campus of the University of Washington, which is under the responsibility of its own police department ...

Captain George W. Kimball organizing the city's program, and served as director from 1928 to his death in 1961. Kids would simply come to call them School Patrol. The junior safety patrol movement took hold in the 1930s under the sponsorship of the American Automobile Association. In 1930 a Seattle rally brought together more than 1,000 members. Yearly rallies began in 1931 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, culminating in the

National School Patrol Parade National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. The 1936 rally had more than 7,000 participants who marched on the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

. The next year had more than 11,000 participants."11,000 March In Junior Safety Patrol Parade"
''Washington Post'', 5/7/38. Retrieved 8/25/07. Members of the Safety Patrol were originally all males and that some called "patrol boys". They were formally identified by either a badge or a white cloth

, later replaced by an orange reflector vest or orange Sam Browne belt.

References

{{reflist

External links

"Tribute to the American Automobile Association School Safety Patrols"
House of Representatives. 10/12/95. Retrieved 7/21/2017.
"Road Wars: Return of the Safety Patrol"

"The Origins of the School Safety Patrol, 1921"
MNopedia 1920 establishments in the United States Pedestrian safety Child safety Educational organizations based in the United States Transportation in the United States

History

See also

References

External links