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When Shamokin Police Went on the Air

Radio equipment and new patrol arrangements changed how the police department organized its work after World War II.

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Mayor Thomas F. Landy administering an oath to a new Shamokin patrolman, with four other officers standing nearby and the original newspaper caption below.
New Shamokin police officers take their oaths, 1950Mayor Thomas F. Landy administers an oath during the February 28, 1950 ceremony for new patrolmen. The photograph shows later police staffing changes, not the 1947 radio installation.Image date: February 28, 1950; published March 1, 1950Credit: Shamokin News-Dispatch photo, published March 1, 1950

An August 1947 equipment order called for a 50-watt radio base at City Hall and two-way equipment for a patrol car. The plan connected a fixed headquarters with officers moving through town. By December 11, the system was reported operating under the call sign WKXU.

Radio was one part of a department being organized for its work. On February 28, 1950, five patrolmen took their oaths, with duties beginning the following day. Coverage described Chief Reese’s role in their training rather than treating an oath as the whole preparation for service.

A 1952 obituary also recalled fingerprint and photographic work associated with Reese. Together, these accounts show several tools of policing—communication, identification, and training—without requiring an unsupported claim about the department’s original founding year. The strongest story here is a specific period of change, not an invented continuous history.

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Police Chief Myron F. Reese in uniform, with the original newspaper heading and identifying caption.
Police Chief Myron F. ReeseA portrait of Myron F. Reese published with news of his death on November 1, 1952. The photograph date is unknown. This is a portrait of the chief discussed in the story, not the 1947 radio installation or the 1950 oath ceremony. The original heading and complete identifying caption remain intact.Image date unknownCredit: Shamokin News-Dispatch, November 1, 1952; photographer uncredited