Minnesota Highways, October 1957

              mow
mmwm
VOL.  6,  NO.   12
1246  University Ave., St.  Paul 4, Minn.
OCTOBER,   1957
Triumph of
Police Teamwork
The Minneapolis Star called
it  a "Triumph of Teamwork."
That was the name the newspaper gave the fast moving police work which resulted in the
death of two confirmed killers
and the apprehension of a third,
a task in which the Highway
Patrol did its full share.
The operation began on a recent Saturday afternoon when
two Anoka county deputy sheriffs were involved in a running
gun battle for their lives with
three men. They were later identified as the O'Kasick brothers,
one of whom admitted having
slain one Minneapolis policeman
and wounded another.
Within a few hours, the operation was over, but it was the
teamwork of law officers of a
aalf-dozen organizations which
lade it successful.
For a while, the immediate response of many city and village
policemen, county sheriffs, and
members of the Highway Patrol
Crawford
Buckman
made coordination difficult. However, with the arrival of Highway Patrol Chief Paul R. Martz
on the scene, near Coon Lake,
the thin skirmish line of officers
formed into a closely organized
party and began closing in on the
gunmen.
Roadblock plans, organized
search parties, mutual assistance
pacts, all had been discussed
many times by the various police
^agencies in the Twin Cities met-
ppolitan area. The training and
riscipline of these officers made
them a coordinate group.
By use of radio, car to car, car
to headquarters, and ground to
airplane,    the    officers    kept    in
(Continued on page 3)
This is the new district headquarters building in Golden Valley, as seen from
the southeast. In the foreground is the office wing, with the sign and paint wing to
the left, and the shops and storage facilities extending to the  right.
Scheduled for completion this month in Golden Valley is
the biggest and best equipped district headquarters building
by far in the Highway department's history. To be the headquarters for District 5 and Maintenance District 9, it faces
east on T. H. 100 on a 22-acre tract, a quarter mile north of
the Medicine Lake road.
Tentative plans are under consideration for an open house this
fall or winter for department employees.
The present Maintenance District 9 headquarters at Hopkins is
to be sold to the City of Hopkins.
The District 5 offices will be moved to the new building from their
present location in the Griggs
Midway building in St. Paul.
The new plant has many advantages, new or greatly improved   over   those   of   previous   dis
trict headquarters establishments. The new buildings, which
has 75,000 square feet of space
and cost $860,000, has greatly increased working space, improved natural and artificial lighting
and ventilation, greatly improved mechanical facilities, air conditioned offices, and ample areas
for storage and parking of department equipment and employees' and visitors' automobiles.
Design of the building permits
(Continued on page 7)
M. L. Jones
Holger E. Palmer
Jones and
Palmer Promoted
Promotion of M. L. Jones of
St. Paul Park, 36-year veteran
in the Highway department, to
be an assistant maintenance engineer, was announced by Commissioner Zimmerman.
Named by the Commissioner
to succeed Jones as district
maintenance engineer of Maintenance District 11 was Holger
E. Palmer, Dakota county highway engineer since 1942.
The two appointments are effective October  16.
Jones, who has been district
maintenance engineer at St.
Paul Park since 1934, will be assigned to the Plant and Equipment division, headed by Assistant Maintenance Engineer Andy
Merrill, George Meskal, main-
ten a n c e engineer, reported.
Jones will be particularly concerned with buildings and
equipment required for the new
Interstate network routes in Minnesota, and also work on other
plant   and   equipment   activities.
Entering the Highway department in 1921, Jones worked in
surveying classifications until
his appointment in 1924 as a resident engineer. He became a
project engineer in 1933 and a
district maintenance engineer
the next year. Before joining
the Highway department, he
worked as an instrument man
for the Union Pacific railroad.
He served in World War I.
As district maintenance engineer at St. Paul Park, Palmer
will direct trunk highway maintenance activities in Dakota,
Ramsey, Washington, and Chisago counties.
Before taking his Dakota
county post, Palmer was county
highway engineer of Wilkin
county, 1929-37, and of Wadena
county, 1937-42. From 1927 to
1929, he was with the Minnesota
Highway department as a locating engineer in charge of a survey party for highways and
bridges. Previously, he was
county engineer of Redwood and
Red  Lake   counties.
He served 2% years in the
Navy during World War II as a
lieutenant,     senior     grade,    and
(Continued on page 3)