During the second half of the twentieth century, Port Deposit maintained a small police department, mostly made up of parttime officers. Around 1966, the town council promoted Horace Boddy, one of the parttime patrolman, to chief of police. He had joined the force in the early 1960s, and with the command appointment he became the first African American police chief in Cecil County. In 1980, Chief Boddy stepped down from the commanding role. His next senior officer, Bill Waibel, became the chief as Boddy stayed on the force as a patrolman. He retired fully in 1983.
