Chief John Blackstock

HEN a newspaperman does

something to offend John

Blackstock, Victoria’s massive
chief of police, summons the offender
into his office, ceremoniously closes
the door, and reaches down a leather
whip from a coat rack.

He advances across the room, rais-
ing the whip as though to clout the
victim with all his 260 pounds behind
the blow. Then a sardonic grin
creases his face. He tosses the whip
down and begins, with rough good
humor, to inform the newsman why

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Page Four

he regards him as a very low form
of life.

The whip is a private joke between
the newsmen and himself. There is
no record that he ever used it on
anyone. But it is also a kind of
symbol of the huge physical strength
which has been such an important
factor in John Blackstock’s 26-year
police career, from rookie cop to
chief.

A visitor to the police station, if he
knows the chief, may be greeted by a
friendly slap on the back that sends
him reeling against the counter.

Without Dramatics

The chief is a blunt, self-made
policeman with no nonsense about
him. He has never been caught
reading a Dick Tracy comic book,
listening to “Dragnet,” or dramatiz-
ing himself in any way. He prefers
old and tested police methods rather
than fancy tricks of crime detection.

The man who commands a force
of 9] (including policemen, clerks
and janitors) is often curt, even surly
with subordinates, but the goodness
of his heart is vouched for by many
of those who know him. When 4
neighbor or a friend badly needs
some job done around the yard, he
has been known to march in while
the person was out, take off his coat
and do the job without telling any-
one about it. Casual visitors who
burst into his unmarked office at
the police station with some trivial
request usually get kind treatment—
even though the chief is busy.

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Rookie Cop
To Chief

Victoria’ Police Chief prefers old
and tested methods rather than
fancy tricks of crime detection

*
By
G. E. MORTIMORE

*

Plenty of Work

Last year 21,270 reports, on every-
thing from broken parking meters
and missing husbands to armed
robbery, went through Victoria
police department. It was the chief’s
job to check on all of those and
make sure, directly or indirectly, that
they were properly attended.

John Blackstock, who is known as
“Blackie” to his friends, has taken a
kidding since boyhood on his size.
When he joined the force he weighed

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