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- Auburn NY Citizen Advertiser - 2/25/1963
BILLS-At Mercy Hospital, Sunday,
Feb. 24, 1963, Chester J. Bills, husband
of Mrs. Augusta Wappler
B i l l s of 46 1/2 Cayuga St.
Funeral services will be at 8:45
a.m. Thursday, Fab. 29. 1963 at
the Langham Funeral Home. 91 E.
Genesee St. and at 9:15 a.m. in
St. Alphonsus Church.
Burial in Soule Cemetery.
Friends are invited to call from
7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and from 4
to 6 and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday
at the funeral home.
ALSO
Same date and paper
Chester J. Bills Dies at 69
Chester J. Bills. 69, of 464 Cayuga
St., died in Mercy Hospital
yesterday after an illness of several
months.
A native of Auburn, Chief Bills
had always resided here. He was
a veteran of World War I and a
member of W. Mynderse Rice Post
97, American Legion.
He was made an honorary life
member of the New York State
Association of Police Chiefs, the
Cayuga Club PBA, and the International
Association of Police
Chiefs.
Chief Bills was a communicant
of St. Alphonsus Church and a
member of its Holy Name Society.
He is survived by his widow,
Mrs. Augusta Wappler Bills; two
daughters, Mrs. Thomas F Walsh
and Mrs. Joseph S Chayka; two
sisters, Mrs. Joseph Wildner and
Mrs. Edward Kills; seven grandchildren,
all of Auburn.
Services will be at 8:45 a.m
Thursday at the Langham Funeral
Home and at 9:15 a.m in St. Alphonsus
Church Burial will be in
Soule Cemetery.
Calling hours will be from 7 to 9
m.
tomorrow and from 4 to 5 and
7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the fu-
neral home,
Chief of Police John T. Costello.
who was appointed a patrolman
and later promoted to the Detec-
tive Bureau under the leadership
and encouragement of Chief Bills
said today "I am very saddened
by the news of the death of my
friend, Chief Chester J. Bills. Chief
Bills was a friend of the Police-'
men who served under him and
was a chief's chief."
Teletype notices of Chief Bills'
death went out to all police departments
in the nation today as
members of the Auburn Police
Department and the Cayuga Police
Benevolent Association entered a
30-day period of mourning.
Mr. Bills was appointed chief of
the Auburn departmen on March
30, 1929, the 10th anniversary of
his return to the States after serv-
ing with the 108th Infantry in
France.
Chief Bills was born in Auburn
on March 25, 1893. He was educat-
ed in Auburn elementary schools
and in Auburn Academic High
School.
He was appointed a patrolman
on Aug. 10, 1919 and was assigned
to duty Sept. 1, 1919. He resigned
from the force on Dec. 1, 1922.
On Feb. 15, 1927, he was appointed
superintendent of supplies
at Auburn Prison. He filled this
position until his appointment as
Chief of the Auburn Police Department
in 1929.
Chief Costello said today that
Chief Bills was a pioneer of modern
law enforcement During his
years as chief, he inaugurated
many crime prevention methods
which later have been adapted on
a national scale, Chief Costello
said of his late superior officer.
Specifically, Chief Costello noted
the late chiefs achievements: the
use of a lie detector to aid in
crime detection, a project the late
chief worked on from 1935 until
1938, and for which he was awarded
patents;
Development of a speed control
device for automobiles, also patented,
that allows the setting of a
certain speed on an auto speedometer
so that a car can not be
driven at an excessive speed, but
allows for full motor power even
though the speed is limited to a
certain point;
Collaborated with the Auburn
Police fingerprint department and
prepared material for a book on
latent fingerprint classifications
giving auburn the distinction of
obtaining the first criminal con-
viction in the nation using this
method of classification.
Assisted the Auburn department
in obtaining the first arson con-
viction of its kind in the nation
with his work using a spectrogra-
phic chemical analysis of clothing,
dust.
Adapted the first one-way patrol
radio from headquarters to patrol
car to be used in the nation, a
system that was later developed
into the present communications
system.
Instrumental in establishing one
of the finest firing systems in the
nation.
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1893 - 1963 (69 years)