Motor Deputy Harold Broadwell was assigned to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Motorcycle Detail at the time of his death. Motor Deputy Broadwell was in pursuit of a speeding vehicle when the driver suddenly braked, forcing the deputy to take evasive action. Deputy Broadwell swerved to the left, entering the opposing traffic lane. His motorcycle collided head-on into a car coming from the opposite direction. The car carried him 70 feet before stopping in a shallow ditch. Deputy Broadwell was coherent at the scene with two broken legs and internal injuries. However, he succumbed to his injuries in the hospital a few hours later.

On Sept. 5, 1919, Officer Corrento G.J. Gargadennec, 50, was on patrol when he observed a suspicious character sitting in a car in front of a residence. He approached the occupant to question him. The man yelled out, “Leave me alone or I’ll shoot.” He then stepped from the vehicle, pulled a revolver and shot Gargadennec. The officer fell to his knees and pulled his own revolver. He shot and killed his assailant.

Two friends of the suspect ran from the residence to the vehicle. Gargadennec leveled his revolver at the pair and ordered them to halt in their tracks. He then staggered to his feet, handcuffed the men, and placed a “riot call” to Central Station. Despite extreme pain and loss of blood, he held the two men until the arrival of assistance. Relieved of his charges, he was transported to the hospital.

Subsequent investigation revealed that Gargadennec’s attacker was sitting in a stolen vehicle. Another handgun was found in the car. The dead suspect and his two friends were identified as the perpetrators of several gas station robberies and other high-profile crimes of violence.

Gargadennec, a 15-year veteran of Oakland Police Department, died of his injury on Sept. 6.

Regarding the line of duty death of night watchman Bernard McCluskey, office of the City Marshal, Madera, California on September 1, 1919.

Excerpts from the minutes of the Board of Trustees, City of Madera vol.3, page 8, bottom of page, reads as follows:

“It was duly moved by Trustee Belchar, seconded by Trustee Cook, and carried by the board, that from Jan.1st, 1919, there was to be one assistant to the City Marshal, to be known as the night watchman.”

On Saturday, August 30, 1919, shortly after 0100 hours, Madera City night watchman Bernard McCluskey was shot and fatally wounded by Ben F. Obenshain of Fresno. Officer McCluskey had placed Obenshain under arrest for vagrancy and was just outside the front door of the Madera County jail when Obenshain pulled a .32 caliber revolver from his pocket and shot McCluskey in the abdomen. McCluskey died of his wounds on September 1, 1919.

Night watchman McCluskey’s assailant, Obenshain, was charged with murder and tried in Madera Superior Court before a jury. The jury arrived at a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree. Obenshain received an indeterminate sentence of ten years to life in the state prison.

Bernard McCluskey was born in Frederington, New Brunswick, Canada, on July 26, 1850. His family moved to Boston when McCluskey was a young boy. Bernard moved to California when he was 19 years of age and lived about the state prior to settling in Madera in 1881. In Madera, McCluskey enjoyed an excellent reputation for the work he did as a blacksmith and as a lawman. McCluskey served the people of Madera, Fresno county from 1891 through 1895 as their constable and then as a deputy constable. (Madera became a county in 1893.) McCluskey was appointed the night watchman of Madera by City Marshal Rea and his appointment was confirmed by Mayor Saunders and the Board of Ttrustees two months prior to his murder.

McCluskey was survived by his wife, son and two stepsons.

Regarding the murder of special police officer Jack Chelton Harris of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Police, at the Calwa Yard, Fresno County, on July 15,1919.

On Tuesday, July 15,1919, between 0100 and 0200 hours special police officer Jack Chelton Harris, A. T. & S. F. Railroad Police, was murdered while in the lawful performance of his duties.

On July 15,1919, at approximately 0100 hours, a northbound freight train pulled into the A.T.& Ss. F. R.R. yard at Calwa on track 8. The yard workers went about their responsibilities preparing the train for the remainder of its destinations.

Charles Elmer Jones, car sealer, testified at the coroner’s inquest that while checking the cars, he observed two men laying on their backs in a wabash coal car. Jones proceeded northbound toward the head of the train and encountered officer Harris. Jones said to Harris, “Well, there is two bums down there in that wabash coal car.” Harris kind of laughed and said, ” Well, I will go down and talk to them. ” Jones was 12 cars north of the coal car when he heard shots fired. Jones stopped what he had been doing and walked quickly toward the area that the shots had come from. Jones met up with witness James William Shaw. Shaw asked Jones what the shots were. Jones said he did not know, unless the policeman was running the two bums out of the yard. Shaw asked where they had been. Jones pointed out the coal car and suggested they see if they were still there. Shaw climbed up on the car and said, “My goodness, here is the sheriff, shot, in the car”. Jones climbed up on the car and confirmed Harris lay dead. Jones testified that ten minutes passed from the time he first saw the men laying in the red wabash coal car and heard the shots fired.

James William Shaw, car inspector, testified at the coroner’s inquest that at the time of the shooting he was about 14 car lengths, or 100 yards, south of the wabash coal car. Shaw said he heard five shots, a group of three followed by two in rapid succession. After the shots, Shaw looked in the direction of the coal car and saw two indistinct shapes visible in the available light appear to head for the highway from the coal car. Shaw went to the area of the shooting where he met witness Jones. Shaw climbed up on the coal car and flashed his lantern into the wabash coal car. Shaw said, ” Here lays the officer. He is shot deader than hell”. Jones confirmed Harris’ presence. Harris’ flash light was on and located under an arm. Shaw noted that Harris was shot in the temple.

Special police officer Harris is part of a law enforcement tradition that includes the likes of Bat Masterson and Allen Pinkerton. There are over fifty-nine railroad police officers and special agents included on the national law enforcement officers’ memorial. Here in California, one need only look at the newspapers of the nineteenth and early twentieth century to see the contributions railroad police made to public safety. Wherever there was a railroad line in this state, the railroad police were there, keeping the peace.