Where Cavalry Club golfers walk today, the first troopers in New York’s State Police learned their skills and trained their horses. On Wednesday, June 15, as part of the annual meeting of the Manlius Historical Society at the Cavalry Club, there will be a preview of the Centennial celebration in 2017 that will mark the first 100 years of the NY State Police. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.
Trooper Brian Gregoire of Albany, who currently maintains the state police archives and who is assisting in organizing the centennial celebration, will talk about the events that led to the formation of the state police and their early training on the grounds that became today’s Cavalry Club
Ted Palmer of Manlius, New York State Police retired senior investigator, will discuss local plans for the centennial. Palmer administers the website devoted to state police history, nysth.com and is active in the Association of Former State Troopers.
The 252 men who became the first state troopers camped in tents around the cavalry clubhouse starting in June 1917. Each man was assigned a horse and used the rural grounds for training. Troopers committed to two year enlistments with an annual pay of $900.00 a year. A captain’s pay was $1,800.
The first assignment was to police the state fair and when that was finished the men rode out on horseback to begin patrolling the state’s rural areas. The state police continued to use the Cavalry Club’s grounds for training each summer for the next several years.
Many innovations in policing, that were once considered radical, were introduced by the New York State Police and have now become standard procedures around the world.
