Capt. Henry C. Debow
Captain Henry Clay Debow passed away on February 13, 1943. He was born in New Brunswick on September 11, 1879. He was appointed a police constable in 1903, and when the city established its first full-time police department in 1910, Debow was one of the original ten patrolmen. By 1912 he was promoted to inspector, and later to lieutenant in 1925 – the first to hold either of those two positions. He later became the department’s first Captain in 1929, serving as the department’s second-in-command and took over the night shift. He was an avid outdoorsman and hunter. It was said he could have become chief of police, but turned it down so he could remain on nights, so he could continue to hunt and fish during the day. He retired on January 1, 1942.
He was survived by his wife and a sister.
