Palm Beach Police History: $1 Badge Marks Humble Beginnings of Town Marshal Joseph Borman's Era

Palm Beach created the office of town Marshal through its first town Charter in 1911, giving Joseph Borman the first elected law-enforcement post in the town.

The early marshal handled far more than policing. Borman collected and assessed taxes, led the fire department, registered voters, enforced codes, served as building official and mosquito control officer, and acted as secretary of the town Caucus. The town's first appropriation for his badge totaled $1.

Borman had worked occasionally for Capt. Dimick, Palm Beach's first mayor, before voters elected him marshal. He served the town from 1911 until retiring in 1946. When Palm Beach formed its Police Department on Oct. 17, 1922, Borman became its first chief.

His patrol area stretched from Singer Island to the Lantana Inlet. Borman covered that territory on his own bicycle and earned $75 a month during the season and $25 during the summer. The town appointed two deputy marshals in 1913, then added officers as the population and crime increased.

The department also became part of Palm Beach's social life. Society baseball games began in 1911 and continued annually until World War II. New York's “Police” played Philadelphia's “Convicts” on a field at the present site of The Breakers tennis courts, with Palm Beach police officers playing on both teams.

The games supported the Palm Beach Police Pension Fund beginning in the 1920s. Players included Woolworth Donahue, E. F. Hutton, Walter P. Chrysler, heavyweight champion Gene Tunney and stage star Georgie Jessel.

Police work also included protecting the shoreline. In 1913, people stole beach sand for fill on the Lake Worth side, prompting the town to erect fences.

Nicholas P. Caristo currently serves as Palm Beach's police chief. The department's history, from a $1 badge and a bicycle patrol to a formal police agency, traces how the town expanded its public-safety responsibilities over the first half of the 20th century.