Panther's Rest

The history of the Fort Worth Police Department started in April 1873 and can not be told without considering many factors which brought about its existence. Fort Worth's location at the confluence of the West Fork and Clear Fork of the Trinity River placed it along one of the major cattle trails, the Chisolm. The location on this trail brought about issues both political and financial in nature and had a definite affect on city fathers. Frequently the entire membership of the police force would change with the election of new city leaders. The infamous "bloody third ward" on the south end of Fort Worth, between present day Seventh Street and the Texas and Pacific Railroad tracks carried the name "Hell's Half Acre". A definite sub-culture formed within this section of town and early law enforcement was caught in the middle, between the city leaders and the citizen's interests. The majority of complaints against Fort Worth officers and the first officer's murder had addresses in "Hell's Half Acre". 1 The area became a distressing factor not only to the police but also to the citizens "up town". Fort Worth was not the only trail town to have a "Hell's Half Acre". The name came into common use shortly after the Civil War. But Fort Worth's "Acre" was definitely tied to the political faction of the town and the police. In the 1940s and 50s the stretch of roadway between Fort Worth and the present city of Lake Worth known as the Jacksboro Highway was not only a source of gambling, drinking and gangland style murder but also of police corruption. These and other influences would be major factors in the development of the Fort Worth Police Department as it moved toward the 21st Century.