Flashing Red Light Once Served as Titusville Police Department’s Call to Duty

If the light was flashing, the patrolman knew he was needed somewhere

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA • TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA – Long before patrol cars were equipped with radios and digital dispatch systems, Titusville police officers relied on a simple but effective signal to know when they were needed: a flashing red light mounted high above the city.

According to a recent Facebook post by the Titusville Police Department, the flashing beacon stood near the intersection of South Washington Avenue and Julia Street.

It served as the department’s primary communication tool in the late 1940s. Officers on patrol would watch for the light, which could be seen from both the northern and southern city limits.

If the light was flashing, it signaled that an officer was needed. Patrolmen would then make their way to the nearest telephone to receive instructions.

“At the time, there was no police switchboard,” the department noted. “Officers would call local telephone operators, who took messages and passed along information.”

The post accompanied a vintage photograph featuring former Police Chief W.T. “Dinky” Brown alongside Verda Blackburn, George Johns, W.J. “Bo” Bohannon, John D. Threlkeld, and Robert Green, offering a glimpse into the department’s early history.

As the police department expanded in 1951, communication improved slightly with the installation of a telephone at Cutter’s Drugs, located at the same Washington Avenue and Julia Street intersection.

Store employees assisted by taking messages for officers and, when necessary, tracking them down to deliver urgent information.

After the drugstore closed for the night, officers once again relied on the pole-mounted telephone near the flashing light.

Police officials say the system reflected a much quieter time in Titusville’s history. According to the department, crime rates were low, with only a few burglaries reported each month, and residents often left their doors unlocked.

The post highlights how far law enforcement technology has evolved since those early days, when a single red light served as the city’s lifeline between officers and the community they protected.

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