There has been much talk lately about the "new" community police force taking shape in the Burgh. Ironically, the village of Lansingburgh was policing its own for 30 years before Troy ever saw a building lot,.

The village had a series of non-uniformed watchmen and constables until all the police departments were organized into the uniformed Capital Police Force in 1865. After the Capital Police system was abolished in 1870, the village instituted its own police force in 1871 under the jurisdiction of a Board of Police Commissioners and a Captain of Police. Alexander King was Captain.

The village police department worked out of one station house, although it had several locations. First located on Second Avenue, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets in the McMurray building, they then moved to the Noyes building on Seventeenth Street. On September 1, 1898, they moved operations into 606 Second Avenue. They continued working here until the village was annexed and it then became the Fourth Precinct house. When it opened in 1898, it was touted to have the latest amenities: electric lights, four steel cells, fire alarm striker and burglar alarms that connected with the Peoples' Bank and the bank of D. Powers and Son, both located nearby. Captain Morris E. Kirkpatrick was in command of the precinct from 1896 until 1900, when the village was annexed to Troy under the act providing for second-class cities.

There were three wards in the Burgh and 13 patrolmen served the village. The village was stunned with the murder of Patrolman Mosher Burnham on October 23, 1881. He was found in an alley between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, south of Twentieth Street and had been shot through the abdomen. It took several years to find the murderer.

When the 20th century rolled into Troy, on January 1, 1900, there were four police precincts in the city with less than 100 patrolmen. General offices for the Department were on the first floor at City Hall on the corner of Third Street and State (now Barker Park), until 1926, while the precinct stations were located in key locations throughout the city.

The First Precinct Station house was located at the corner of Third Street and Canal Avenue (now a park) and was built in 1893. Its boundaries were "all south of Liberty Street, to Greenbush line, lying between the Hudson River and east bounds of the city, including the 8th, 11th, 9th, 12th, and 6th wards." The WPA built a new precinct house next to the firehouse on the east side of Third in 1935. The building is now privately owned.

The Second Precinct Station house was located at 22 State Street (demolished) and was built in 1872. Its boundaries included the "North side of Liberty Street to center line of Federal Street, lying between the Hudson River and east bounds of the city, including the 1st, 2and, and 3rd wards, and that part of the 4th ward lying south of center line of Federal Street and that portion of the 5th and 14th wards lying between the Poestenkill and a line drawn through center of Federal Street and same produced eastwardly."

The Third Street Precinct Station House was located 2420 Fifth Avenue (demolished) and was built in 1876. Its boundaries were "All north of Federal Street to former Lansingburgh line, and from the Hudson River to the east bounds of the city, embracing part of the 4th ward and the 7th, 10th, and 13th and a part of the 14th wards."

The Fourth Precinct included the entire Burgh. The precinct house is now a saloon.

On June 14, 1905, a plan was submitted for a Fifth Precinct, in East Side, but didn't materialize. By 1914, the precinct stations were rundown and on June 6, the city was served with a show cause order by the State Prison Commission to show why the First, Second, and Third Precinct Station houses shouldn't be demolished and rebuilt. The three station houses were actually condemned by the commission, and it wasn't until June 2, 1921, that the city engineer proposed the consolidation of the precincts into one central station. The fourth precinct station was declared in good shape.

In 1926-27, the Second and Third Precincts were consolidated into the newly built Central Police Precinct at 55 State Street. A new First Precinct Station house was built on the east side of Second Street adjacent to the Fire House in 1935. Finally in 1944, the First and Fourth Precincts were absorbed into the Central Police Precinct so that all operations of the force were conducted out of one building, except for the 1920-built signal station house next door. Currently, there are plans to renovate the central police station on State.