The Uniform and the Cars Have Changed

Here is a neat photo from more than 60 years ago.  Mendham Borough Police Officer Walter Smith – known around town as Smitty – talks baseball with two young lads, identified only as Bobby and Jack, alongside a Chevrolet patrol car circa 1952.  (Click the picture for an enlarged view.)

The location should be familiar to anyone who travels through Mendham with any frequency, as the building in the background still stands, essentially unchanged, on a downtown corner.

Smitty went on to rise through the ranks, attaining the position of Chief in Mendham Borough, from which he retired.  He was a well-liked and well-respected figure in the town.  Today he enjoys retirement in a senior residence not far from his old jurisdiction, and this photograph, along with others and a commemorative badge that we are producing, are being gathered as a tribute to his service.