Ulichny, Michael

Part 1 of 3 was recorded at Michael Ulichny’s house in Tucson, Arizona on April 12th, 2018. It covers the following themes:

b. 1943 

  • Childhood in Wisconsin and Colorado. Move to Phoenix in 1959. 

  • First impressions of Phoenix. High school on double sessions. Transportation, language, neighborhoods, sports. 

  • Attending University of Arizona and living with Japanese friends from Phoenix. 

  • First impressions of Tucson during high school. Family driving to Nogales to buy alcohol. 

  • Engineering classes at the UA during the early 1960s, lectures via television, school on Saturdays. ROTC requirement. 

  • Travel and roads between Phoenix and Tucson before Interstate 10. 

  • Wrestling, fraternity life, hazings. 

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis and Kennedy assassination. 

  • Working on a desalinization project at the UA and in Mexico. 

  • Dating and marriage in the early 1960s. 

  • Abandoning engineering and studying public administration. 

  • Police department requirements for new hires in the mid-1960s. 

  • Community perceptions of police in mid-1960s. 

  • Getting hired by the Tucson Police Department in 1964. 

  • Typical crimes in mid-1960s Tucson, the city jail and farm. 

  • Training, evaluation, and discipline of new police officers. 

  • Race and policing in the 1960s: riots elsewhere in America and how they effected Tucson. Unrest in downtown Tucson after the MLK assassination, and a racial brawl at the Fox Theater in 1969. 

  • The increasing diversity of police officers in 1970s and affirmative action. 


Part 2 of 3 was recorded at the base of Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Arizona on April 17th, 2018. It covers the following themes:

  • Race protest of BYU at UA basketball game in 1970. 

  • Scheduling and shifts at the Tucson Police Department. 

  • Reflections upon the cultural 1960s. 

  • Urban renewal, breakup of family units, and relocation of families to the east side. East side property crime, arson, difficulty at Santa Rita High School. 

  • Changing relationship between police and schools in the 1960s and 1970s. 

  • Urban planning and crime, dense cities versus suburbs. 

  • University of Arizona student unrest in 1971, threats of burning down Old Main. Vietnam War protests. Three days of rioting near University Boulevard and Park Avenue. 

  • Vanishing youth unrest in the mid-1970s. 

  • Drug culture in the 1980s. 

  • Detective work in the 1960s. 

  • Changing communication technology in policing. 

  • Increasing professionalization of policing in 1970s and 1980s and emphasis on education. 

  • Tucson Police strike in 1975: pay, tension within department, tension between department and city. 

  • Interacting with the Tucson City Council and the politics and policing. 

  • Ulichny’s move into administration in the 1970s. The work of a police lieutenant. 

  • Drug enforcement, prosecution, and changing attitudes towards drug use. 

  • Recovery and sale of criminal accessories. 


Part 3 of 3 was recorded at Michael Ulichny’s house in Tucson, Arizona on April 25th, 2018. It covers the following themes: 

  • Federal grants to local law enforcement starting in the mid-1960s. Federal interest in scientifically approaching crime with computer assisted dispatch. 

  • Tucson Police unit and beat designations. 

  • Computerization of fingerprint system in 1980s and the beginning of national communication between local departments. 

  • Creation of TPD’s helicopter unit. 

  • Creation of bomb squad and dog unit. 

  • Growing interest in crime-prevention in the 1980s.  Community policing and geographic challenges. Other attempts at TPD outreach, neighborhood watch programs, neighborhood cohesion, school resource officers. 

  • Ulichny’s experience speaking to media.  

  • Crippling theft of Tucson’s water distribution equipment in 1982. 

  • Administration and hiring of chiefs. 

  • Ulichny’s tenure as acting Tucson Police chief. Selecting administrators, change of TPD uniforms, courting unincorporated areas to promote city annexation. 

  • The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and rise of Clarence Dupnik. 

  • City annexation attempts in south Alvernon and Palo Verde area. 

  • Dealing with city budget cuts. 

  • Being passed over for the permanent job as police chief. 

  • Civilian Review Board and unionization of Tucson Police. 

  • Conflict with chief Doug Smith, getting sent into liaison position with United Way. 

  • Retirement. Work as security consultant for Pizza Hut. 

  • Volunteer work with Community Food Bank. 

  • Looking back over changes in law enforcement from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s and a few more details about the Tucson Convention Center. 


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