SOUPY'S CORNER

Home of Bert Campbell

Story # 1

I started with Fort Worth Police (Texas) on August 10,1963. The Dept had about 800 officers (no female officers and only four black officers),sorry to say that, but that's the way it was. This was not the only discrimination. There were height, weight, and vision requirements. You had to be 5’9” to 6’4” at least 2 pounds per inch, no more than 3 pounds per inch. Vision had to be at least 20/40 uncorrected. All this with a pay under $400 a month. We were driving 1963 Ply's black & whites, no siren with a four bulb on & off red light, no air conditioning, most were 6 cyl, with one V-8 in each district. The City had nine districts with each district having about 8 or 9 beats, about 64 beats in all. One Sergeant was over each district, a Lt. over each shift. In the summer we wore long sleeve shirts with ties and a visor hat that had to be worn at all times even when driving. We used a 2-way radio having only two channels, that was for everything. I recall working with officers that used a one-way Receive only radio. They would call your car number several times. The officer would go to a police call box located on telephone pole which also had the old pull fire alarm. Many people had no phone to report a fire. The station would tell the officer where to go. There were old officers that still wore the big (jail like) key on a long chain on their belt.

Story #2

When I started I had just gotten out of the Air Force having been stationed at Carswell AFB for over three years. I was married and had just moved into an Apartment Complex near Seminary South. The day I went to check in at the Police Station on returning home my Wife was gone. She left me a note saying she had left me and would not be returning. She said she only reason she stayed with me was until I got out of the service so I would not have to move back on base where single Airmen had to live. This was my first marriage. We had been married a little over three years, no children. She later moved in with her Boss who was twice her age and married. He was an Architect and own the Office building where their office was located. They later did marry, giving her a step-daughter older than her. I never heard what happened to her. I took the divorce very hard and took me a long time to get over. It was very hard going to the Police Academy and keeping up with my studies. It was 17 weeks long. We were the first class in Fort Worth that did not work the streets before completing school. We were the first to wear Trainee Uniforms which were gray. We were also the first to be issued a weapon owned by the City. They were .38 Smith & West revolvers, blue steel. We wore what they call bucket hoisters (because they had a cover over the entire pistol). On November 22, 1963 we were at the firing range shooting a course called PPC in which the final distance was 60 yards. (That’s rough with a hand gun). During break we heard that President John Kennedy had been shot. I graduated from the Academy on December 11, 1963, given the ID # 823. Fort Worth never re-assigns a number. They are now up to 3500+ the last I heard. One of my first assignments was to stand guard over Lee Harvey Oswald at Rose Hill Cemetery off Lancaster on the far east side of Fort Worth. We had one in our class that said he just couldn’t spend all night in the Cemetery alone. Of course they told him he was a Police Officer and would do it or wouldn’t stay an Officer. I wasn’t much on pictures, but one day some people arrived there to see Oswald’s grave and asked if I would stand beside the Black & White Patrol Car. They wanted the picture to show a Fort Worth Police Car, Officer in Uniform and Oswald’s headstone. They threw away a picture that missed the headstone but showed the rest. I kept it, but now has some wear and tear from me carrying in my billfold. If you view the picture you will see the summer uniform mentioned in Story before, long sleeve shirt, tie, hat and the Car has no Air Conditioning. During that first two or three years I worked every Beat in Fort Worth as all new Patrolman did. It was latter that I was assigned and remained most of my career in the Stockyards.

Story # 3

I really don’t recall the year, somewhere around 1967 or 68, all the major Funeral Home operated Ambulance services. This was good public relations for them. Once they picked a person up at an accident scene and treated them good that person would remember them when they needed Funeral services. Or if they picked a dead person they usually got to do the service. But it became so costly they all decided to stop doing at the first of that year, giving the City of Fort Worth only a few months to come up with a plan for Ambulance service. Everyone panicked not knowing what to do. To get the City time to study the problem some real smart person said, well Police Officers know how to drive emergency vehicles and our Firefighters are trained in First Aid, and we have nine police Ford Station wagons that have red lights and sirens because they are being driven by our Police Sergeants. Patrol Officers working beats were not allowed having vehicles with sirens. The great plan then was simple, put a Police Officer as Driver, use a Firefighter as Assistance and use the Ford Station Wagons outfitted with a stretcher in the back to carry the Injured person. And by the way, since we’ll put one in each Police District (nine) they could Patrol on Nights check buildings and even write Citations when they see one this would help pay the Overtime of the Officer and Fireman. Of course being a young officer I was all for it and really could use the time and half pay. They gave us a short course on First Aid and had a Funeral Director who had become a Police Officer teach the ways of handling a person on a stretcher. The sirens were the old solid sound, meaning when you press down a floor button (like the old floor dimmer switch the sound started from low to high. To give it a whaling effect you would press down the switch and when it reach its highest level you let up and let it goes down in pitch. By continue pressing and letting up gave the whiling effect. When you came to a stop or arrived at the Hospital it had a break to stop the wheel from turning that made the sound. Of course if you were in a hurry or forgot, it took several minutes to stop. There were a lot of stories that came out of our Ambulance driving. There are two I must tell, surely the Statue of limits have expired if any of it was criminal. The first I know is true as it involved me, I want say the second is true but makes for a good joke if didn’t really did happen, but it was told to me as true. Please remember we were doing our best with what we had for those days. I received a call on a man down at a Garage Apartment in a very low-income area on the North side. For those of you who never been in a garage apartment the Apartment was built over a garage, but for some reason the stairs wrapped around the outer interior very narrow. It was very steep about enough room for a single person to walk up. As we started up the stairs the Fireman was on his first call, and in a hurry tried to get pass me almost knocking me down in the stairwell. When we did get to the top we found this man was about 300 pounds. The Fireman looked at me and said “how are we ever going to get him down the stairs“. I could see he was laying out flat in a very unnatural state (appeared deceased). After checking he was cold, stiffed and no pulse. I told the Fireman, don’t worry about it we got the time to think of something. There was no way a folding cot would make it in the stairwell so we would have to carry him. He was stiff so it was going to be hard. In those days and our instructions were to take everyone to the Hospital for them to pronoun them dead. The morgue was in the basement of John Petersmith Hospital; so taking them there then downstairs was a good method. We attempted to lift this guy without much luck. I was only 165 and the fireman was about the same. There was no way we were going to carry him. So, I told the Fireman to gab a leg and I would get the other and pull him down the stairs. At first the fireman said “lets get help”, I answered how do you think anymore of us would walk down the stairs side by side, he gabbed a leg and away we went. As we went down the stairs the guy’s head was bouncing on each step. It was a long ways down. The second story was regarding a Unit leaving the scene of an accident. Again this involved a very large person. The Officer was in a hurry loading the cot in the back of the wagon and forgot to secure the latch for it. They took off in a hurry as they did the Fireman yelled for the Officer to stop as the cot had sailed out the back door, hit the street and was rolling down the street on its own. While the Funeral Homes were doing the Ambulance I did work one Offense involving a Body being taken from the home as it was a common practice to leave a Body to be viewed open all night for guest to come at any hour.

Story # 4

It was Christmas Day around 1970, by then I was considered a Police veteran (over 5 years on the force). I had just gotten to work Days (yes, it took that long to get to the Day Shift). New Patrolman worked 2nd & 3rd shifts as the Day Shift had less Officers on Duty. It was about 2 PM, I would be going in at 2:40PM, the Day had been slow, not too many calls. I received a hit & run accident on the short North side of Fort Worth. I had been working what was called the Stockyards area for the last three years. It was a very rough part of Fort Worth in those Days. Now it has become a tourist attraction with “Billy Bob’s” the worth’s largest Honky Tonk. I thought to myself “This is going to be the shortest accident I’ve worked” wanting to get home for Christmas Dinner, to which my Family was waiting until I got off duty to celebrate Christmas. I arrived on the scene to find a Young Spanish couple beside their car that had been damaged by a Hit & Run Driver. They started giving me a description of the car that left when the man yelled there it is, going south from where we were. I jumped in my Patrol Car and proceeded after it. After a few blocks I could tell by the way it was driving I had an Intoxicated Driver. He appeared to be an elderly man alone. The chase lasted a good twenty minutes. Now nearing 3 PM, I still believed I could get him stopped, complete the accident report issue some citations and maybe let him call someone to take him home since he was elderly and it was Christmas. Then he turned back on the street where we started. He turned into a long driveway in front of the car he had hit. He drove to the end of drive maybe a 100 feet where the garage was at the end. The back door to his house was near. I also realized I had made calls here before where he and his wife were nearly always drunk and fighting. In those days the Police did not do much on Family fights. I also knew the wife could be very difficult and at times had a gun. I did not want him to get in the house or her to come out with a gun. As I approached the driver’s side I reached for the driver’s door with my right hand to open it and pull him out. As I opened the door I was caught off guard with him being elderly, it being daytime and Christmas. He came out with his fist hitting me in the left ear. I fell to the ground, the pain in my ear was greatest I had ever felt. I went blank for a few seconds. When I tried to get up I was dizzy, I reached to the pain in my ear and found my hand bloody. At that time I saw him with blurred vision reaching the back door, attempting to get his key in the lock. I ran to him, grabbed his arm taking him to the ground. I was still alone (as I said the Day Shift ran with less Officers). Then what I feared happened, the Wife also drunk was coming out the back door and began beating me on the back while I was attempting to handcuff her husband. As we all three were on the ground I looked up to see about four 2nd shift Officers taking over as I was about to pass out again. I was sent to the Hospital, treated and released. I was a stubborn young Officer. I insisted on writing my own reports filing on the man for Driving While Intoxicated, Hit & Run Accident, and Assault on a Police Officer. The young couple that was at their car seeing the whole thing had gone to a house and called the Police Department telling they were watching and while I was out on the ground on the first blow the man had kicked me in the back repeatedly. I was told in later life I might have a hearing problem from the damage to my ear drum. Today I wear a hearing aid. I can’t leave this story without telling the end results of court. Fort Worth had some real old Judges that were somewhat drinker themselves. When I got to court on these cases the Prosecuting Attorney told me the Defense had agreed to Probation of 3 years on the DWI and 5 years on the Assault with a $300 and $500 fine. He felt that was the best we would get if we went to trial. I told him it was his call. When we got in front of the Judge, he looked down at me with Cigar in his mouth (yes they smoked on the Bench), and said “Officer didn’t you know when you became a Cop there would be times you might get hurt?” Then he said “$100 fine on the DWI and $200 on the assault, I’m not putting a businessman in jail, he’s got his store to run.” As I turned red from angry the Prosecutor pulled me by the arm into the hallway and told me not to say or do anything dumb to ruin my career. Later, when they passed a new law that an Officer could sue a person for personal injuries on the job (with the Chief of Police’s approval, I did attempt to sue him. My Attorney found he had four judgment against him. That would make me fifth in line and would do no good. His House, his business, his cars, and income were exempt. He had been a Mayor in Small City and a Bank President. He ran a small Grocery Store near his house.

Story #5

In the early years with Fort Worth Police the Laws were so different then today. If an Officer was in a chase with someone who committed a Felony all he needed to shoot was to know he did it (as seeing it). I knew an old D.A. Investigator (from the 40s & 50s who I know shot and killed four or more. He was after two Drugs Dealers once on E. Belknap, shot both before I got there. Just said well that’s two we want have to mess with again. Then there was a time I was on Patrol and got a call of the Azle Ave Pharmacy of a Robbery in progress, I wasn’t a mile away, thinking this was my chance to arrest one in action. The Druggist was on the phone taking an order when a hooded man came in with pistol in hand, Druggist told the person on the phone “We’re being robbed call the Police) and hung up.” Every Officer wants to catch an Armed Robber, so this was my chance. As I as was pulling up in front I heard a Bang Bang Bang at the rear of store . I ran to the back to see Harry (the Investigator) standing over the robber who was bleeding all over the place, as I started told him Harry said “No need to check he’s dead, believe me.” I asked “Why did you kill him, we could have got him.” Harry said we did. Harry had heard the call on his Radio as he was passing in an unmarked car. Today so many Officers take so many chances not wanting or afraid to shoot for all the problems it causes. There were a number of times I was close to shooting, but thank goodness I never had to. Then it came to only shooting in self defense or defense of another’s LIFE. Good or Bad I don’t know. One day as I was driving to work from Crowley where I was living it was raining, the freeway was slick, it was about 2PM as I was working 2nd shift (3-11 PM). A car pasted me at a high rate of speed, being in my personal car but in Uniform all I could do was think the fool is going to wreck. Sure enough he went into a spend about three complete turns then went off the road to the right taking down a light pole. It looked bad, two in the car appeared they hit their heads in the windshield, so I pulled over behind them to see what I could do. As I got up to the car the Driver raised his head a little looking right at me as I was attempting to open the door with my left hand (as taught , always leaving your gun hand free ) he was reaching for a .45 Automatic pistol between his legs. As he pulled it out and turning it towards me I pulled my Service revolver (a .38 Smith & Wesson) put it to his head, I thought to myself I had only one chance to pull his Automatic from his hand (my left hand against his right) of course I’m yelling drop the gun to no avail. Grabbing it by the barrel I got it away from him as he was still dazed and bleeding from the head, but I’m standing there with a gun in both hands. To my surprise he came out at me, I hoister one gun stuck the other in my belt and the fight was on. We rolled down the embankment to the service road, he ended up on top. As I was trying to pull my gun again (In those years policy did not allow drawing a weapon unless you were to fire), someone appeared next to me and said I’m a Reserve Officer do you need help ? Was I glad because I still had one in the wrecked car and not knowing if he was armed also or what these two had been doing. (We were having a lot of Daytime Bank Robberies). I asked the Reserve if he had his weapon he said No (policy didn’t allow Reserves to carry one off duty). I gave him mine to guard the one we just caught took the Automatic to take on the one still in the car. He was out cold and the ambulance had arrived. Never knew just what the two were wanted for as On duty Officers arrived and took over. We never heard the out come of cases unless we went to court. Later that Day my Sgt jumped me good for not shooting, said I took too great of risk that when the suspect was point his weapon at me was grounds to shoot.

Story #6

Most Officers will never admit to the stress and even Nightmares from working the street. Death was always everywhere. Some that really got to me were the losses of Officers that were the closes to me. I always wondered how did I make it. I lost my Training Officer Robert Camfield, he taught me well. I worked under him for three months, every night. In those days he would tell me to wear warm clothes, I had never worn Thermo wear. He wouldn’t let us drive the beat without both front windows down even with it in the teens. He believed if an Officer got to warm in the car he wouldn’t want to get out. Also in those times there were a lot of Audible Alarms not being able to hear them if the windows were up. He had lots of rules, one is never to hesitate if he told me something down to shooting someone. The biggest that always worried me was never to give up your weapon even if your partner had a gun pointed at his head.. We worked the area down the Jacksboro Hwy to Azle and West to Carswell Air Base. Our favorite place to eat on Midnights was the Clover Drive In (they still had Car Hops) He loved Enchiladas with jalapeno peppers. I got use to a big meal too, even on 3rd shift. I only weighed 165 in those days (Fort Worth had a weight and height requirements I was to lite when hired). After I was turned loose to work alone, one night I received a call on Burglar Alarm near Downtown off of Henderson Street (a long way from my Stockyards beat), after checking the building Dispatch asked if I could clear and take a Major Accident on my Beat on Azle Ave and Long, I said yes and started to drive off and had a flat tire (which Department policy didn’t allow Officers to change a tire and didn’t carry spares, they had a Police Service truck that can to change it), they gave the call to Camfield who was working next to me. When he got to the scene he was hit by a Drunk Driver as he was helping the injured driver. This put him in the hospital for several weeks and he had to use a cane working in Dispatch for a long time until he made Detective. I always felt it should have been me. Camfield would get mad about my feels. Later Camfield was working off duty security job at the Rocket Ballroom on Jacksboro Hwy when he was told there was a fight on the parking lot. He went out to check and was shot in the head and was killed. He was wearing a vest, but did no good. This case brought a lot of attention to Fort Worth about Officers working Off-duty in Uniform. The Ballroom said when he left to go outside that it wasn’t part of his job for them. Of course Fort Worth said he was Off-duty (but we had to get their approval to do it). Became a big question who was responsible for his expenses. I had a very close call at the same place, it was a rough places, but mine was on-duty on my beat. I got a call of a stabbing on the parking lot. I arrived without a backup (we were always a little short of cars on the Northside at night on weekends, we would make back to back calls all shift). As I got out of the unit a man was laying on the ground with a knife in his chest, bleeding badly, as I was doing what I could the Manager said he would look after him the suspect was getting in a car trying to leave for me to stop him. I went for him but he was six foot over 250. A fight ensued as I was trying to cuff him, he swung me around like a sack of potatoes and we went to the ground. I looked up and was a off duty officer in Uniform (believed him to be working security, I knew him and yelled his name to come help me, then he was gone. I attempted again to get him cuffed, he pushed me over the rear of the car and I thought to myself I’ll have to shoot he’s to strong for me to over power him, as I was reaching to draw my pistol two police units came screeching up, three officers, one my Sergeant, pulled the guy off me. I was never so happy to see help as that night. Again my Sergeant wasn’t real happy, “why didn’t you shoot ? ). I know what I saw, but IAD said there was no Off-duty there that night. The Officer I called by name also told me he was inside (He was an older officer near retirement, I just said “You were inside with a man stabbed out front?”. I let it drop after that. The second Officer killed that was very close to me was Eddie Belcher. I had trained him (him riding with me three months). Eddie wasn’t really meant to be a Police Officer (forgive mew for saying that). He just wasn’t into it as most of us were. He was going thru a divorce and her on his mind much of the time. Officers and being married didn’t work out for many. Divorce rates were high, every Officer I knew had been married several times including me. I finally found the one that understood what Police Work really meant, we married in 1972 and still together. Eddie once while on patrol ran off the road and hit a mail box, when asked what happen (did another car come in his lane ?, Eddie said “No I fell asleep”. But that was Eddie. I always wondered if I could have taught him better to prevent his death. He got a call at the Electric Circus (an all black Night Club in Riverside) of a large fight, he and several units were on the scene, stopped the fight but were all standing around ( I taught him as I was taught) do what you got to do and get out of those kind of places. Anyway as they were talking a Rifle shot (believed from the Riverside Village Apartments) hit Eddie in the head, parts of his skull hitting the other Officer to the point one thought he had been shot. Everyone was in an up-roar when Eddie’s Wife (who he was divorcing) showed up at the PD in short shorts wanting his Pay Check. Eddie was living with his parents and had begun to hate her, but never took her off his insurance. She got everything.

Story #7

Then there was Jessie Parris. He and I worked the Old Clark’s Discount Store (First like Wal-Mart) in Fort Worth. It was located in the Stockyards area. We worked under cover security, catching shoplifters. We spent a lot of hours just chatting. Learned he grew up near where my Wife did (Diamond Hill). He was killed in Como (an all black area). He was attempting to take down a demented person who had assaulted several . Some criticized him for not waiting on a back-up (we all did that). Can you just sit around waiting when others are in deep trouble or possibly getting killed ? Later I learned my Captain was his Step Daughter. Another good friend Ronnie Overton was killed checking a Pawn Shop on a Burglar Alarm. Ronnie was with the River Oaks PD which I had made a lot calls with, and his brother Sammy worked next to me in Fort Worth. Ronnie had many Alarm calls at this Pawn Shop, wasn’t thinking to much about it. River Oaks was a small Department but had most of the same policies as we did (not drawing your weapon unless you were going to use it). As he was walking around inside the Burglar came from behind some boxes, pulled Ronnie’s pistol from behind him shooting him with his own gun. Sammy left the PD, told me “How could I ever go in a building and not draw my weapon after what happened to my brother.” He became an insurance Agent. I got my Car and House Insurance from him for years. The last one that really hurt me was Bob Dougherty. He was a Highway Patrol when I met him working the Fort Worth area, but he lived in Lake worth. He stopped by and have coffee often, sometimes came in to use our office to complete paperwork. This is where I must say some things I feel and recall are not the same as others. No two people think alike or even hear things the same. The way I understood what happen is near what was on Court TV show. A young man that used pot while in college NTS in Denton, was asked if he could get a pound for another college student for a really big party. He said he wasn’t into selling, never brought that much but would try to help a fellow student out. What he didn’t know this other guy was a undercover officer in Denton. At about the same time DEA (State) got word a pound buy was going down and did not know one was an Officer. As the buy was taking place inside the house between the Student and Undercover Officer. DEA with Bob who had become a Texas Ranger were outside to raid the place. When the door was kicked in the Undercover Officer and Student pulled guns and everyone started shooting in all directions. Sad as it was Bob was shot and killed on the outside of the door. The student claimed he feared for his life when he was shooting at the door, but so was the Undercover agent. Some say the student killed Bob others say No one could tell who shot what, only Bob a Texas Ranger was dead. The Student got Life. This was the start of NICU (will write about later) it was a Task Force for Intelligence, that never again would One Agency not know what another is doing. I was on the board of directors of this Unit (It has a long list of problems and stories).

There were others killed in line of duty but these were the hardest for me. Then there were so many deaths on calls I made working the Norhside. Killings were common, so many Bars.

AUBREY POLICE DEPARTMENT

Aubrey Story # 1

After over 12 years with the Fort Worth Police Department, trying for Sergeant five or six times, I wanted to do more than just work the Streets as a Patrolman. Nearly three hundred applied each time a test for Sergeant came up. Some of the old timers would tell me, “Bert if you’re not told to take the test you’re wasting your time taking it”. I never wanted to believe the scores were fixed, so I kept trying. The real problem was, all of us were pretty much equal. We were all trained in the same Academy, had the same knowledge. To get in the top five on the list seem near impossible. I did get to about 45 on the list, but with no more than five made each year I felt I would never make it. I did have a close friend that was in the same class as I was in go from 200+ to number five and made Sergeant, and later retired as Lt. He never would tell me how. We all knew he played golf with several of the upper brass. There was another factor maybe even greater was the fact that Fort Worth did not have Social Security (Cities were not required to have in those days). On retiring an Officer only got City Retirement which was very low back then. Officers had to get another job. If he became Disabled (not job related) he got nothing. Some Cities did have S.S. and less time to retire (Fort Worth was 35 years). So anyway, I left Fort Worth Police to become the Chief of Police in Aubrey, Texas. This was a small town of 800 just north of Denton, Texas. I was the one and only Officer. I learned that in Texas there are a lot of One Officer Departments. The Chief does it all. When I started they had a system in place where if someone wanted the Police they would call the Town’s Police Phone Number and a loud bell rang on the street in front of City Hall (located in the town square, it was very loud). The Chief would get to the phone and answer the call. When the Chief was not available the call was transferred to the Denton Sheriff’s Department and a Deputy would respond. I was told that usually that happen as they only had three Deputies on Patrol that answered calls. And, they went home at Midnight and had to be called out. I wanted better. I took the bell down, had the Police Phone in my house and inside the City Hall (we had no Police Station). The City Secretary or my wife answered the police phone, as we added new officers it rang in each officers house at the same time. But, the only radio I had in the Police vehicle was an old FM (36.380 I think) that was a Sheriff radio. We were Aubrey 360 on their radio. When they received a call in Aubrey city limits they called us. The Sheriff in Denton at that time was a real country type and didn’t appear to have a lot of Law Enforcement background. The Deputies wore white shirts and jeans with just a badge pinned to the shirt and a gun flapping (no duty rig). The cars were all different colors, whatever they could get. But, they did have a Sheriff’s Star on the door. As I became known, I started receiving all kinds of calls from the Sheriff’s Dept., some way out of my City. The Sheriff told me it was O.K. if he told me to do it. (This was before the time any type agreements were made to assist each other as today). The town had a real problem with teenagers. The Chief before me left because a group of twenty kids surrounded his Patrol car got on top of it with him in it and urinated on it. I built the first Police Station with two cells it, as I did make arrests. Before me they hardly ever made an arrest, and had to drive them to Denton to lock them up. I added two full time Officers as we began doing real police work. And at the City Council’s request added my Wife Sharron as a Certified Officer. They sent her to Police School. She worked the Office collecting fines, running the Court, and backing me up. She also worked with the problem children (that was the job she liked the best, other than telling me what to do on the radio). (more later)

LAKE WORTH POLICE DEPARTMENT

Story #1

I started as a Patrolman and worked every position from Detective to Chief within two years. I became the second oldest Chief (in time with one Department) in the Fort Worth Metroplex. (more later)

Lake Worth Story #2

As Chief of Lake Worth I was in a position to try many new things. I had the authority to do whatever I thought was best for the Department. I had a wonderful boss, Mr Irby was City Secretary (same as a City Manager) He didn’t like the title for a Man, so he had it changed to City Administrator . We met nearly every morning and had Coffee and a Smoke (yes- before it became a no-no). When the Chief that hired me left Mr Irby asked me to take the Chief job. (Believe it or not, I didn’t want it). Several Sergeants and Officers under me kept after me to take the job. Finally I was asked by two Patrol Sergeants if I believed we had a good Department, Being the only Lt and second in command and said yes we did. They told me if a new Chief came in everything would changed. I didn’t want a change so took the job. I really loved being number two, and a Detective. I worked on a lot of interesting cases. Some of those I will tell a story on later, (like the Marijuana plant in the picture). Some of my first cases involved the Car break-ins which were high. Teens loved stealing 8-tracks and stereos. I caught one group involved in dozens. At first it was easy to get them to tell on themselves. You could almost tell how many times they had been handled by their willingness to talk (or brag). I was really good at getting confessions. My Chief was one for training (guess I got it from him). We trained all the time. I went to many schools on Investigations. I didn’t know it then but later told I was a Charter member of the Southwestern Law Institute (in Richardson) I went for six weeks. I had to make the drive everyday then come back at night to file any in custody cases. No in those times Law Enforcement was not under the Federal Labor Laws. We worked whatever it took. Most small Departments worked a six day week. Of course Detectives worked many hours a week. I was lucky, the Chief and my Wife worked on cases with me. The Wife did all the filing and the Chief did a lot of my typing (I wasn’t ever to good at it.) My Wife also Dispatched some, Chief wanted her full-time but she preferred to just help me with my cases (free to the City). I worked on one robbery of Long John Silvers for 26 hours straight, once notified until filing the case. It turned out to be an employee of another store. I was given the description of white pants and black heavy shoes with white power on them, like the ones they wear. I recovered the gun and all the cash he had hidden under his bed. I cleared all the robberies we had while I was a Detective. I use to tell other officers it’s not that I know everything about Law Enforcement, it’s just that I’ve seen or done about everything. I don’t take the credit for everything we did that worked because all the Supervisors I had gave input. I will try to recall some of the many things I don’t feel were used in many Departments. I realize not all could be used in a large Department, but did work for us. We used a Team concept, meaning the same Officers, Dispatchers, and Reserves worked the same hours and had the same Days off. Being small, A Sergeant ran a Shift with a Dispatcher, two Patrol Officers and one or two Reserve Officers that were allowed to work a Car (beat) alone. We had four teams, A Day shift with Saturday & Sunday off (this being the Shift older Officers went for) of course seniority was used. Second shift had Monday & Tuesday off, Third shift had Wednesday and Thursday with the Relief shift having Friday & Saturday. Sunday 1st was very slow so two reserves worked, supervised by an on Duty Detective. Detectives were a Command Rank just below a Lieutenant. In my opinion Detectives in most Agencies are under ranked. They have a lot amount of responsibility. They should be over any field Officer including the Sergeant so they can call out additional personnel when needed, in charge of any Crime Scene. We couldn’t decide on a way to indicate their rank. Since they were above Sergeant and under a Lt. someone came up with Army Warrant Officer Bars (they are gold with blue stripes on them), so that’s what we used. We basically had two districts, the City was divided in half using the Jacksboro Hwy. Everything East of the Hwy. was Beat 1, and everything West was Beat 2. Cars were numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and 0 (being the Sergeants car). Radio numbers were 10’s, 20’s, 30’s, so an Officer working first shift Beat one would be Car 11, second shift being Car 21. Sergeants being 10, 20, and 30. Reserve Officers would use ending with a 4 (24 being second shift reserve). Car ending in 3 meant an Officer was working both beats. This would be when we had extra or was short. At any time a Car number was given anyone would know what they were and what they were assigned. Once we were having trouble with Officers finding Breaks-ins (burglaries) because we had so few that the Officers had a hard looking night after night and finding nothing. But, when an Owner of a business came in and found his back wide open or a window knocked out it sure made us look bad. I came up with a positive motivation (had always been negative-- writing the Officer up), I went out at different times of night and placed different colored 8X10 papers on a back door or window. When an Officer found one he would get time off with pay., (from 1 hour to a Day off, depending on the color of the paper. The Officers really worked hard to find these papers, never had another Break-in that wasn’t found. I also gave Officers an award each year for perfect attendance, a pin to wear and a Day Off with pay. Most Officers rarely missed work. I hardly ever had an Officer leave the Department except the one’s I had to fire. I had three Golden rules, don’t lie or give false reports, don’t steal, and don’t disobey the orders of a Supervisor. There were many other rules, but these meant you were gone no matter what.

Lake Worth Story #3

August 1990, at this point of my career I believed I finally had it made, I had it all. I was Chief of Police of a Department considered one of the best in Texas. We had about 45 employees and about 12 to 14 Reserve Officers who worked regularly. I had done and seen it all. My birthday was August 5th, the Department had really gone out with me being 50 years old. See picture with black balloons). Another seven years and I would retire on close to $4,000 a month. My salary with car allowance and etc was about $65,000 a year. Our Department was well known for our Drug Enforcement. We had just completed an undercover operation that netted 22 arrests for selling to our undercover officers at least three times. At last count 21 were convicted and all serving time (no probations). Our Department had one of the best Tact Teams in the Fort Worth area. We executed all Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department Drug Warrants. I was a member of the Tarrant County Drug Task Force, along with Chief Wilham of Fort Worth and Sheriff Don Carpenter. Better known as NICU. My Wife had been hurt on her job in 1989 but was recovering well from a back surgery. She was walking from our house to the Police Station (about 2 miles). Then out of nowhere, it seems the Sky just fell down on me. There were rumors a new City Council was talking about letting me and the City Manager go. No reason other than they wanted their own. (People they would hire). My Wife panicked and so did most of the Officers. They contacted Cleat (not me). I received a call my their Head Office in Austin. A Mr. Delorne said they would hire me the best attorney money could buy. He went on to say their Fort Worth Office had received calls from nearly every Officer in my Department who were members of Cleat for help. The local head man at the time was named Sheling. He called to say he had never heard a bad word against me from any source and would do everything he could to save my job. He said most calls he got were from Officers against their Chief not for him). I had been with Lake Worth for 16 years and Chief for 15 years (the second oldest in time as Chief in the Metroplex. I then met Jim Lane (now a Fort Worth City Councilman). He was very a well known Attorney in Fort Worth and helped many Officers win their jobs back. He asked me what it was all about as he too had never heard anything bad about the Lake Worth Police Department. The problem as I know it was very basic, but in the end a lot of good Officers were hurt. Lake Worth had always had an older reliable City Council. We had the same Mayor 20 years (I think). Mayor Trumble was as good a man, under his leadership Lake Worth became a great small city, (about 5,000). Trumble was name President of the Mayor Council. The PROBLEM--- Lake Worth had been asked to take a position on a Freeway replacing the Jacksboro Hwy. The older Council did not feel it was in the best interest of the City to support this Freeway, as it would divide the City in half. The Jacksboro Hwy. ran though the mid of the City (which only had five square miles to begin with). One man, Bob Bulter decided the Freeway should come though the City. He found three other men to run on a ticket (all four together) running against the old Council, and a Mayor the following year. With the four of seven councilmen they would ran the City. The three Bulter picked would vote for anything he told them to. The Mayor, later left the group, but they still carried the four votes as the Mayor only votes in a tie. Mr. Lane asked Mayor Hinkle how he felt about the Police Department and me. He said he would support me anyway he could. Mr. Lane asked him to go to each of the three Bulter followers and ask how they would vote on firing the Chief of Police and if any one of them would just miss the meeting (if one missed the vote would be 3 to 3 and the Mayor would break the tie in my favor. When Mayor Hinkle reported back he said there was no hope, there would be a four to three vote for me and the City Manager to be laid off. (No reason given). Mr. Lane came up with a plan, he said I would not resigned and he wasn’t going to let them fire me. He explained, I would offer a resignation which would forced them to vote to except it in front of a City Council meeting filled with the City towns people, news and etc. He also asked who was the highest Law Enforcement Official the Metroplex the Chief of Fort Worth Police or the Sheriff of Tarrant County and would he speak on my behalf. I told him I felt either would. He chose the Sheriff. I called Sheriff Carpenter who said he would be glad to tell “them fools how dumb they were for wanting to get rid of the best Chief he knew). The night came; the vote was four to three to let me and the City Manager go. After the meeting Sheriff Carpenter stood on the steps and told a crowd of about 500 not to worry about Chief Campbell as he would give him a job with his Department. (That’s another story to be told). As all this happened my Wife had a fall which in time put her in a Wheelchair, and the life as I knew it would be over forever.

TARRANT COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

I started as a Crime Scene Deputy in Patrol after losing the Chief's job. Later I transferred to the Judicial Service Division as a Security Deputy. (more later)

The old wore out Street Cop today.

Email: bertcampbell3@msn.com