100 Years Ago

On October 20, 1925, Adam Janser, a recent victim of a Burglary at his residence at 323 West Court Street, approached Patrolman Althoff as he patrolled his beat on Elm Street to advise him that he had found a man wearing his clothes. Patrolman Althoff, of 1902 Highland Avenue, followed him to the Lubin Theater at 140 West 5th Street where he arrested 21-year-old John Edward McKibben of 105 E. Liberty Street and a female companion, 21-year-old Elizabeth Andrews of 2455 Everglades Avenue.

Read the Full Story

Dave was born March 22, 1939 to Edward A. and Gladys E. (Ridder) Biederman. He attended Roger Bacon High School, graduating in 1957. He also attended the University of Cincinnati majoring in Advanced English.

From 1959 to 1964 he owned a florist shop.

Dave joined the Cincinnati Police Division in its 42nd Recruit Class on March 23, 1964. He was promoted to Patrolman on June 28, 1964, issued Badge 67, and assigned to District 5 (1012 Ludlow Avenue). Two years later, he was rotated to District 7 (813 Beecher Street). On March 6, 1968, he earned a Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce award for community service. On December 22, 1968, Patrolman Biederman was assigned to the Traffic Bureau (City Hall). He was honored again in New York by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Pride Magazine for his volunteer work with children and received an honorable mention as Policeman of the Year. He transferred to District 4 (7017 Vine Street) on June 18, 1972 and then to Police Communications Section in October. On April 1, 1973, he returned to District 4. Officer Biederman transferred to District 1 (310 Lincoln Park Drive) on November 27, 1977. On January 10, 1982, he transferred back to Traffic Section as the Division’s Hit-Skip Coordinator. Officer Biederman retired on June 10, 1989 with 25 years of service and 18 letters of commendation and/or appreciation.

Officer Biederman was also a foster parent, providing a safe space for 22 children as they awaited their forever families. Some stayed a short while, others for much longer, but each one was touched by his kindness and support.

Officer Biederman became a real estate agent. In 1973, he was issued a broker’s license. He continued in that business for 50 years until 2023, a good portion of which while owning his own firm.

Officer Biederman passed away on Thursday, October 16, 2025, at the age of 86.

He was predeceased by a foster son, Arthur Edward (Teresa) Guard. Officer Biederman is survived by his Godchildren, Lori (Joe) Geraci and Jeff (Elizabeth) Jaeger; foster child, Danny David (Rhonda) Yazell; brother, Donald Biederman; and colleague Mark (Ellen) Schwab.

A gathering in his honor will take place on Friday, October 24, 2025 from 12 pm. To 12:30 p.m. at Mihovk-Rosenacker Funeral Home at 5527 Cheviot Road in Monfort Heights. A funeral service will be held at 12:30 p.m. with entombment to follow at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Roger Bacon High School.

_{© 2025 – All rights are reserved to LT Stephen R. Kramer RET and the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum}

Join us Sunday, October 26th for our 2nd annual Cops for a Cure 5K at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati! A 5K and Kids Fun Run to support the brave members of the Cincinnati Police Department diagnosed with breast cancer. After the 5K we hope you’ll stay for post-race community and celebration with live music, food & more. Come run or walk with Cincinnati’s Finest to end breast cancer, as we know it today.

Click here or scan the QR code for more information and to sign up.

Download PDF kFlyer for posting

The Social Security WEP penalty no longer applies to cops getting Social Security benefits. If you collect Social Security, in the next few months you will be getting a lump sum repayment retroactive to January 1, 2024. Likely, the lump sum will be thousands of dollars that you never had any expectation of receiving.

TThe Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society asks that, when you get it, you will gift $1000 of your windfall to help us finally move our museum to a permanent home out of Over-the-Rhine.ent home of Over-the-Rhine. Most of you know, that:

• We operate the only regional police museum, serving over 100 agencies in three states,
• It is the largest law enforcement museum, by artifact and archive count, in the country,
• It is the Number One attraction in Greater Cincinnati, according to TripAdvisor.com,
• We have written enhanced obituaries for 882 law enforcement employees since 2013, and
• We have researched and written complete narratives of 207 tri-state line of duty deaths.

But we do far more for you and your families, agencies, and communities. Too many to list here.

Please pledge a portion of your treasure to help us continue our mission:  you can download a copy of the pledge form by clickingHERE.

Please mail this form to:

Greater Cincinnati Police Museum
308 Reading Road, Suite 201
Cincinnati, OH 45202

Alternately you can scan and email it to President@Police-Museum.org.

We will contact you when the checks come out to arrange for fulfillment of your pledge.

We thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter.

Note: If you are not a recipient of this payment but still wish to contribute, please visit our donations page for ways in which you can help.

Website Update

Several new and exciting pages have been added to the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum Website:

• Legends in Local Law Enforcement:  This page features biographical information on individuals who have distinguished themselves in various ways during their careers.  This page contains links to the articles currently available.  Additional articles will be added as they become available, so check back often.  You can view this page by clicking here, or by clicking on the Legends item in the main menu of the website.

• Police museum Video Gallery:  This page is a collection of video clips about the Police Museum or other items of interest relating to the History of Policing in the Greater Cincinnati area.  This also is a work in progress and new clips will be added as they become available.  You can view this page by clicking here or by clicking on the Galleries link on the main menu of the website.

I hope you find these new features interesting, informative, and useful.  If you see any issues or typos (my specialty) or have comments or concerns, please feel free to email me at webmaster@police-museum.org.  Your input is strongly encouraged.

Tom Lind

The Greater Cincinnati Police Museum

“Preserving the History of Law Enforcement in the Greater Cincinnati Area”

Have you ever wondered what goes through a police officer’s mind when facing a critical situation that requires a potentially life-altering decision in a matter of seconds? Would you like to see how you would handle such a situation? Now you can. We have a Law Enforcement Situation Simulator that allows a participant to experience such situations. This exhibit is a safe in-person virtual environment at the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum  that allows you to interact with a presentation that is based on actual situations police officers have faced in real life.

You must be 18 years of age or older in order to participate in this program.

Submit the below application to schedule a date/time for your appointment.

Law Enforcement Simulator Request Form

Scheduling Calendar (password required) (MUSEUM STAFF ONLY)

The Greater Cincinnati Police Museum

“Preserving the History of Law Enforcement in the Greater Cincinnati Area”

For a limited time only and while supplies last the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum will be giving a free gun lock with every paid admission to the Museum.  Come on down and see what the museum has to offer and get your free gun lock.

The Greater Cincinnati Police Museum

Located at 308 Reading Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

During the Hamilton County Police Association;s monthly meeting in October  at the Green Township Senior Center. Dr. Kathleen Bare presented a donation  to the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum.  This donation of $5,500  is  in memory of her late fiance, retired Cincinnati Police Officer Tom McAlpin who passed away unexpectedly on June 20, 2019 in a tragic accident. Her very generous donation is truly appreciated.

If you would like to know more on how to contribute to the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum full information can be found here.

Please consider leaving a comment in the space provided below to show your appreciation for Dr.  Bare’s most generous gift.

The Greater Cincinnati Police Museum

“Preserving the History of Law Enforcement in the Greater Cincinnati Area”

As our 20-year-old vision as the central repository for local law enforcement information comes to fruition, we are often asked for data and information.  One of the often-repeated questions is, “When was the last unsolved line of duty death?”  So, we researched it.

While we knew it was a long time ago, we are surprised to find that it was 70 years.  We are also surprised at how few there are.  We have currently recorded little more than 200 line of duty deaths and about 140 who died by the purposeful actions of others.  Only 14 are unsolved – a 90% clearance rate over 150 years!!

To answer the primary question, the last unsolved murder was more than 70 years ago in 1948.  World War II hero and Cincinnati Motorcycle Patrolman Lewis William Hall was run off of Queen City Avenue and killed.  The suspect car was never identified.

In fact, the last four unsolved homicides were motorcycle patrolmen who were or probably were run off the road.  Cincinnati Motorcycle Patrolman John William Hughes probably died in similar fashion five months earlier on Kellogg Avenue.  Reading Motorcycle Patrolman Willard H. Santel was also chasing an unidentified speeder in 1945 on old Wrights Highway.  Cincinnati Motorcycle Patrolman Jesse Roy Hicks was run off the road by a speeder in 1935.  There was another more than a decade before that, during Prohibition, when Fairfield Motorcycle Constable Emery Conald Farmer was likely run off Dixie Highway in 1922 and his body and bike ransacked.

The last homicide of a patrolman not involving a motorcycle crash was 88 years ago when Wyoming Patrolman Walter Lester Commins was shot in 1930 in another Prohibition Era incident.  Possible suspects – maybe even a probably suspect – were found, but no prosecution was ever possible.  Covington Patrolman Benjamin Franklin Law, while off duty and some say in stocking feet, responded from his home to a woman’s scream and was gunned down by unidentified burglars in 1924.

The last unsolved murder, other than by car, of a Cincinnati officer was the tragic incident when Cincinnati Acting Detective Albert W. Wegener was shot and killed 102 years ago at a downtown pawn shop; and then Motorcycle Patrolman George Le Poris was shot and killed in a friendly fire incident while looking for Wegener’s murderer.

Before that, we had six murders in a row associated with railroad yards from June 1914 to August 1915, and another in 1930; four of which were unsolved.  L&N Railroad Inspector Clarence Eugene Karrick, in another Prohibition Era murder, died in 1915 the Latonia Yards.  A Wallace Street Association Private Policeman Martin J. O’Herron was killed in 1915, possibly due to something going on in a nearby Covington rail yard.  B&O Railroad Detective Lieutenant Elijah Newton Boileau was killed 2 months before that in a Camp Washington rail yard.  During 1914, C&O Railroad Special Agent Cleveland Kemp was killed in the Silver Grove Yards.

Five law enforcement officers were killed during two riots in 1884 and two of the cases remain unsolved.  Cincinnati Patrolman Henry Samuel Scherloh is one of two Cincinnati officers, other than motorcycle officers, whose murders are unsolved.  He was shot in the back by an unknown rioter during the Election Riots of 1884.  Similarly, Ohio Militia Captain John J. Desmond was shot by a rioter during the Courthouse Riot earlier in March 1884.

The last (actually, the first) unsolved death of an area law enforcement officer was the shooting death in 1869, 150 years ago, of Covington Marshal John T. Thompson by an unidentified highway robbery suspect at the south end of the Suspension Bridge.

In all our research, so far, the longest time between a line of duty death and its solution was the murder of Cincinnati Patrolman Donald Martin in 1961 and solved 44 years later in 2005 by two detectives born after his death.

_{-by Lieutenant Stephen R. Kramer (Retired)
-Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Society}

The Greater Cincinnati Police Museum

“Preserving the History of Law Enforcement in the Greater Cincinnati Area”

Free and convenient parking is now available for patrons of the Police Museum.  Signs have been erected designating all space between 306 and 318 Reading Road as Police Museum Parking.

Parking is limited to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday and a Police Museum parking permit is required.

Parking permits, are available  in the Museum Gift Shop.