Name/Title
Lacey Police Department, 1975Entry/Object ID
2007-012.H389PDescription
Lacey Police Department, 1975. These six black and white contact print strips were created for the Lacey Leader newspaper. These images were created using two separate film rolls, so some of the physical numbers on the strips are repeated. For the purposes of this description, these strips will be grouped according to the film roll from which they originally came. Each of the groups will be assigned a lower-case letter to go along with the physical numbers on the strips (ex: 1a, 2a, 3a, 1b, 2b, 3b, etc.) to help differentiate between images.
The images in group "a" show a speedboat on a boat trailer, approximately six people in a jail cell, a person sitting at a desk in a judge's robe, and interior shots of the Lacey Police Department. These images appear to show the police department when it was housed in the Russell House (later the Lacey Museum). Image 44a shows a single-occupant speed boat on a boat trailer. Painted on the side of the boat facing the camera is "S-158," "Desperado" and "Ken Mark." Image 1a is very similar to the previous image, but here a man in glasses is sitting in the boat's driver's seat. The photogrrapher has also zoomed in or moved closer to the boat. Image 2a shows the speedboat from its opposite side. The front tire of the boat trailer is in the bottom-left corner of the image. Image 3a shows three men looking at the camera through the bars of a jail cell. The man on the left is balding and the man on the right is wearing glasses. There are several award penants hanging down into the top section of the image. This image is oriented horizontally. Image 4a is very similar to the previous image, but here the image is oriented vertically. Image 5a shows four people seated around a table, and one man standing at right. They appear to be playing cards. The jail cell bars are in the foreground. One man is looking back toward the camera. The man at the far left is Ken Balsley. Image 6a is similar to the previous image, but here all five people are sitting at the table. Ken Balsley can again be seen on the far left. Image 7a shows a person seated at a desk, wearing a judges robe and holding a gavel. Hanging behind this person on the wall are two banners. The top one reads "North Thurston Chapter" along the bottom, and the bottom one reads "THE J..." (presumably "THE JUDGE"). Image 8a shows two women seated across a small desk from each other in a cramped office. There is a doorway partially visible behind the leftmost woman. There is a flight of stairs visible on the other side of the doorway. A fluorescent light fixture with many wires hanging down out of it is visible on the ceiling. This image is oriented vertically. Image 9a is nearly identical to the previous image, but this image is oriented horizontally. Image 10a shows a small office with two windows. The image is captured through partially open doorway, and a plaque on this door reads "WATCH COMMANDER." Image 11a shows two tall metal filing cabinets standing side-by-side. The top drawer is pulled out on the right-hand filing cainet. Image 12a shows a fireplace and a chair to the left of it. Hanging above the fireplace are two small, framed posters. The one on the left shows a police officers holding a child in his arms. Text at the top of the image reads "Pig?" The poster on the right shows a police badge and has text which reads "Peace Symbol." Image 13a shows a unit of six tall wooden cabinets with small padlocks on them. The cabinet on the far left has a mirror attached at the top. These are likely the police officer's personal lockers. On the wall at right is a row of plaques or award documents honoring various people, most likely Lacey police officers. A portion of a desk is visible in the bottom right-hand corner. Image 14a also shows the wooden lockers, but this image was captured looking down the line of lockers toward the row of awards hanging on the far wall.
The images in group "b" show various interior areas of the Lacey Police Department when it was housed in the Russell House. These images appear to be related to a "Jail and Bail" fundraiser. Image 5b shows a safe with a stack of bound documents on top. To the left of the safe is a metal filing cabinet. Image 6b shows a doorway at the bottom of a short flight of stairs. This image was captured from the top of the stairs. Image 7b shows a short, wide filing cabinet at left and a work counter at right. There is a piece of unknown office or police equipment on top of the work counter. Stored underneath the work counter are many boxes and documents. A window is partially visible at the far right of the image. Image 8b shows a blurry shot of the wooden lockers seen in images 13a and 14a. Image 9b shows wires hanging loosely along a wall. This image also looks down a set of stairs toward a partially opened door. Image 10b is nearly identical to image 9b. Image 11b shows what appears to be police uniforms hanging in a closet. The uniforms are covered in clear plastic. At the left of the image are two metal filing cabinets and at right is a counter with a dish strainer on top. Image 12b shows a typewriter on top of a shelf or small desk. In the foreground is a table with two coffee cups on it. Image 13b shows stacked boxes with large stacks of documents on top of them. Imag 15b shows the same scene as image 14b, but this image is blurry. Image 16b shows portions of two desks in the foreground and a taller reception desk beyond them. This image was captured from behind the rection desk, so many drawers, documents, and document organizers are visible underneath it. A window is visible on the far wall, as is the small, framed poster of the police officer holding a child (also seen in image 12a). Image 17b is very similar to the previous image, but this image is blurred. Image 18b shows a piece of unknown electronic equipment sitting on a checkerboard-patterned floor. There is a tangle of electrical cords next to the piece of equipment.Made/Created
Date made
1975 - 1975Place
City
LaceyCounty
ThurstonState/Province
WashingtonCountry
United StatesContinent
North AmericaNotes
Date: 04-23-1975
Medium: Photographic Paper/Photographic EmulsionLexicon
Search Terms
People, Buildings, Police, Lacey Police DepartmentRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Kenneth Dale Balsley