Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2007
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Shore Security
The Atlantic City Beach Patrol does more than just guard the beaches
Today, millions of people flock to Atlantic City for casinos and entertainment, but the city’s biggest draw once was its beach. Even when bathers wore full-body complements of tops, skirts and stockings when going in the ocean, they needed protection—and the Atlantic City Beach Patrol was there to provide it.
The first “constable of the surf” patrolled the city’s beaches in 1855. William S. Cazier was at the time a 25-year-old man who was paid $117 for his first summer’s work: he was to assist any bathers in need. As the city grew more popular, the beach constables were replaced by on-duty members of the regular police department, who put on bathing suits and stood ready to jump to the rescue of any endangered swimmers—but only between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
This system left most of the beaches unprotected most of the time. As a result, many hotels hired private lifeguards to chaperone their guests, and volunteer brigades formed as well. Though the volunteers weren’t paid, they did get their share of excitement, and the chance for occasional gallantry. Since they were untrained, they were not always successful at preventing swimming accidents, and drowning continued to be a major problem on Atlantic City’s beaches.
In 1870, city authorities took another tack, installing “life lines” at certain beaches. These were heavy cables run from the beach out to sea, where anchors secured them. Theoretically, bathers were supposed to enjoy the surf while holding onto a nearby “life line.” Not surprisingly, this system had only limited appeal.
The city took its first steps toward creating a full-time professional beach patrol on August 21, 1891. In June of the following year, the Atlantic City Beach Patrol was first deployed.
The beach patrol figured into the first rescue of the 1892 season, but not in the most flattering way. On June 20, a passer-by on the Boardwalk noticed 14-year-old Clarence Hopper struggling in the surf, and he notified two lifeguards, who apparently didn’t notice the tumult. The lifeguards then struggled to pull their large boat into the ocean, and were taking so long that the lad surely would have died had not H.H. Parker, a passing swimming master, jumped into the waves (wearing a full suit of clothes) and dragged him to safety himself.
Later rescues went a bit smoother—for the most part—as the Beach Patrol for a time posted its guards in boats offshore, where they effected quick rescues and warned back bathers who tried to swim further than was safe.
The Beach Patrol assumed its modern form in 1904, when Mayor Franklin Stoy appointed Dr. J.T. Beckwith as beach surgeon. That summer, the Beach Patrol performed 891 rescues without a single beach fatality. Beckwith was later promoted to police and beach surgeon, and in 1913 his assistant, Dr. Charles Bossert, was named the head of the patrol. By this time, 90 guards and captains patrolled the shore.
During World War II, with most able-bodied young men called to serve their country, the city faced a lifeguard shortage. As a publicity stunt, the city hired a crew of female lifeguards, who found that “drownings” increased remarkably when they were around—most of the victims were seemingly healthy men. Though the women did not last, by the 1980s women had returned to the beaches as lifeguards, and they were taken far more seriously.
The patrol continued to grow, with over 150 members by the 1950s. Today, it continues to protect and serve swimmers and beachgoers throughout the city, and is one of the city’s proudest institutions.
