Leonard Baldy

Who was Leonard Baldy?

Leonard Frank Baldy was a Chicago Police Department officer who became the city's first helicopter traffic reporter. His sometimes comical look at Chicago's traffic problems made him a household name. His peers gave him the nickname "Flying Officer Leonard Baldy". He died in fiery crash on May 2,1960 when his helicopter threw a rotor blade and crashed in a railroad yard near Milwaukee Avenue and Hubbard Street.

A native of Chicago, he graduated from Lane Technical College Preparatory High School and was a World War II veteran who served as a Signalman on USS Markab. Baldy gained early recognition in his police career for being the first patrolman in the United States to experiment with and use the, now famous, radar gun to detect the speed of vehicles. He also wrote the first ticket in the world for speeding using a radar device. As a patrolman in the mid-'50s he appeared in a television commercial directing traffic.

He became the most visible department spokesperson when he provided lectures and taught classes to civic groups, organizations, and educational institutions on the topic of traffic safety. He provided the first helicopter traffic report over WGN radio in November 1958.