Cleveland Police Museum

We were honored to host the badge pinning ceremony for the 159th Academy Class of the Cleveland Division of Police.

"December always brings traffic headaches of bad weather, short days and holiday excitement. If all of us, whether we are motorists, pedestrians or parents of sleigh-riding youngsters, cross accidents off our Christmas list.” So said Eliot Ness's accident prevention unit when they launched a new campaign to keep Cleveland's streets safe.

When Eliot Ness became Cleveland's Public Safety Director in 1935, Cleveland had the highest traffic fatality rate in the country. Ness developed a four-pronged approach to address this sad safety record: creation of the Accident Investigation Unit; establishment of a police ambulance force; implementing high-profile police patrols throughout the city; and launching the Accident Prevention Unit, a program to educate the public on traffic safety.

In 1939, the Accident Prevention Unit along with the Community Relations Department launched the “Save a Life for Christmas” campaign. The slogan had been chosen at a Cleveland Safety Council meeting in November. The police distributed over 25,000 posters bearing the slogan and a picture of Santa Claus in an attempt to raise traffic safety awareness, especially among the throngs of holiday shoppers filling Cleveland’s downtown streets.
The police even recruited Santa to help with the campaign! Patrolman John C. Chevin of the Public Relations Bureau traveled the city as Santa Claus, preaching safety and stressing the slogan: Save a Life for Christmas. He was chosen because of his jolly soul and also because he was a first class actor.

https://www.clevelandpolicemuseum.org/eliot-ness/eliot-nesss-save-a-life-for-christmas-campaign

Our curator, Evan Cerne-Iannone, created a great video about the death of John Nardi. It features items from our archives and interviews with our wonderful volunteers Pat Reynolds and Bob Cermak

Death of John Nardi: Cleveland Bombings Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.