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City Policemen Promoted

City Policemen Promoted image
Parent Issue
Day
21
Month
August
Year
1967
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

City Policemen Promoted

In a major revamping of the top command structure of the Ann Arbor Police Department, Chief Walter E. Krasny today announced the promotion of two line officers to newly-created executive positions.

Capt. Harold E. Olson, a 21-year veteran of Police Department service, is the local force’s first senior captain and Lt. Walter V. Hawkins who has been a city policeman for the past 13 years, has been named acting uniformed captain in charge of research, training and planning. 

Chief Krasny said his department has been long in need of both new positions which are designed to streamline the overall operation of the force and provide direct responsibility lines between patrolmen and top command.

Olson in his new duties will head all divisions of the Police Department including the Detective Bureau, Youth Division, Patrol Section and traffic officers. He will be directly responsible to Krasny for operation of these divisions and will have full authority in supervision of all investigations by the various sections. In addition, Olson will be acting police chief in Krasny’s absence.

An Ann Arbor native, Capt. Olson was this spring graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy in Washington, D.C., where he underwent three months of intensive training all phases of police work.

He attended local schools here as a youth and served as a staff sergeant in a combat Army medical unit in Europe during World War II. He was decorated for outstanding duty performance before his discharge in 1945.

He joined the Police Department as a patrolman upon army discharge and his rise to command rank was rapid. He was promoted to uniformed sergeant and three years later at the age of 31 he became the youngest uniformed lieutenant in the history of the force.

Olson, now 44, has since served in virtually every capacity of command in the Police Department including stints as head of the Detective Division, Civil Defense coordinator, head of the Records Section and aide to the chief. He was promoted to the uniformed captain’s rank in 1964.

Hawkins, 39, is a Detroit native, who served in the U. S. Navy in the late 1940s. He was appointed a patrolman here in 1954 and in 1960 was promoted to the rank of uniformed sergeant. He later served as second in command of the Detective Division and in 1964 was promoted to uniformed lieutenant in charge of a platoon of patrolmen.

Last spring Hawkins was made an aide to Chief Krasny and was named coordinator for Civil Defense for the city. When Olson left for the FBI academy Hawkins was placed in command of uniformed personnel and department of public relations in addition to Civil Defense duties.

In his new position he will coordinate all training and research for the department and will continue with Civil Defense.

Image Captions: 

HAROLD E. OLSON

WALTER V. HAWKINS