The Abilene Police Association sponsored two major annual events for the Police Department. These were the pick nick at Cob Park and the Police Christmas Party. These living former Chiefs were always invited as I believe it should have been.
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| Joseph Moore Rucker and Mary Jane (Henley) Rucker; Parents of Lillie Rucker Sibley and Mattie Rucker Wasson; Grandparents of Chief Ruck Sibley and my Dad, J.B. "Jake" Wasson and my uncles J.T. "Bus" Wasson, Bill T. Wasson and Clyde Wasson and my great paternal grandparents.  |
William R. "Ruck" Sibley served as Chief of Police 1930 -1937.
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T.A. Hackney served as Chief 1937 - 1943.
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I worked under three Chiefs. They were C.Z. Hallmark, W.B. "Red" McDonald and Warren Dodson. All had their strengths and weaknesses; all had their good points and bad points. None were perfect. All doing their jobs, whether to the best of their ability, I don’t know. All influenced me to one extent or another. All influenced my methods of performing my duties when I became a Chief of Police.
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Like Chief Hallmark, Chief McDonald had his strengths and his weaknesses. Chief McDonald always remained an investigator at heart. It is my opinion that he had a strong belief that an investigator should protect his informants at all costs. This is something that we were taught in my early days with APD. Under this concept, an officer was to assume a person to be an informant and ask no questions if another officer asked that a specific person not be arrested. (Note: this did not include crimes of violence such as murder and rape) I know that this concept is flawed. Sometimes it is necessary to give a little slack to a good informant, but some informants will try to take advantage of an officer and must be kept under control. Informants have many motives for providing information. I believe the motive of an informant must always be taken into consideration.
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| Chief of Police, William R. "Ruck" Sibley |
T.A. Hackney served as Chief 1937 - 1943.
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| Chief T.A. Hackney |
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| Chief C.Z. Hallmark |
C.Z. Hallmark served as Chief of Police in 1947 and again from 1952 - 1956.
I went to work under Chief C.Z. Hallmark. In one respect Chief Hallmark had and expected from his personnel very high moral standards. Sin is nothing more than missing the mark. All sin is wrong and equal; however the Bible speaks of and singles out sexual sins more than any other. In that realm and in the realm of the sanctity of marriage Chief Hallmark must have had the highest possible moral integrity because he set the standards for Police officers in relation to women extremely high.
He did not tolerate divorce among police officers. Even the hint of trouble in a marriage placed an officer in extreme danger of being terminated. He set an extremely high standard for all relationships between police officer and all women. In this area, I now believe he influenced me far too much. Looking back, I now believe that when I became a Police Chief I fired a man too hastily or at the least could have handled it in a different manner. I now believe that there were other cases as a Chief that my reactions to some events involving police officers were excessive due to the influence of C.Z. Hallmark. Maybe I am getting mellow in my old age.
If an officer went into a cafe for a cup of coffee and a waitress came around and sat beside him, the officer was in danger of loosing his job under Chief Hallmark. It was most likely innocent on the part of the officer and/or the waitress, but the consequences were the same. If a police officer on duty and in uniform displayed any act of affection to his own wife and it became known to the chief, the officer at the very best would be orally reprimanded. He tended to go a little overboard in this area.
Chief Hallmark was highly intimidated by the social elite, those powerful in the political arena and wealthy business men.
Chief Hallmark would have been justified in firing me for some of my stupid actions as a rookie. On the other hand, I was treated unjustly by him on occasions when I absolutely did nothing wrong.
Chief Hallmark seemed to have another very strong opinion. He appeared to be opposed to education. The evidence made it appear that he would not tolerate a police officer going to college. There were two or three officers going to college when I went to work. I was told that they were attending college in secrete. One of these officers was living in student housing at a local university, It seems that it would be hard to keep his enrolment in college secret under those circumstances. He may have had a policy that prohibited officers from starting college after a specific date. I do not know. I only know what happened to me when I attempted to enroll in college.
I had been off active duty in the U.S. Air Force for only a couple of years and my G.I. Bill rights for College were intact. I enrolled at Hardin Simmons University. I was given a form to be signed by my employer which I took to Chief Hallmark. He looked at it and said, you can go to college or you can work here. Had I chosen college, I would have given up my dream to become an Abilene Police Officer as well as becoming a Motor Officer. I responded to him, "Well Chief, since you put it that way, I will work here." If I had it to do over, I would have attempted the secrecy route and found another way to deal with the form that required the signature of my employer.
He had his strengths and weaknesses. I owe the fact that I became an Abilene Police Officer to Chief C.Z. Hallmark. For better or worse, I owe much of my attitude toward the way police officers should conduct themselves to Chief C.Z. Hallmark.
Chief Hallmark seemed to have another very strong opinion. He appeared to be opposed to education. The evidence made it appear that he would not tolerate a police officer going to college. There were two or three officers going to college when I went to work. I was told that they were attending college in secrete. One of these officers was living in student housing at a local university, It seems that it would be hard to keep his enrolment in college secret under those circumstances. He may have had a policy that prohibited officers from starting college after a specific date. I do not know. I only know what happened to me when I attempted to enroll in college.
I had been off active duty in the U.S. Air Force for only a couple of years and my G.I. Bill rights for College were intact. I enrolled at Hardin Simmons University. I was given a form to be signed by my employer which I took to Chief Hallmark. He looked at it and said, you can go to college or you can work here. Had I chosen college, I would have given up my dream to become an Abilene Police Officer as well as becoming a Motor Officer. I responded to him, "Well Chief, since you put it that way, I will work here." If I had it to do over, I would have attempted the secrecy route and found another way to deal with the form that required the signature of my employer.
He had his strengths and weaknesses. I owe the fact that I became an Abilene Police Officer to Chief C.Z. Hallmark. For better or worse, I owe much of my attitude toward the way police officers should conduct themselves to Chief C.Z. Hallmark.
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| Chief Walter B. "Red" McDonald |
W.B. McDonald served as Chief of Police 1956-1957
The second Chief that I worked for was Walter B. (Red) McDonald. Chief McDonald had a son, Firefighter Norman R. McDonald who was a member of the Abilene Fire Department. Norman
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| Firefighter Norman R. McDonald |
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| Grave Marker of Abilene Firefighter, Norman McDonald |
Of the three Chiefs that I worked under, Chief McDonald was my favorite. For me, he was easy talk to. The fact that he had been my Dad’s friend long before I became a police officer may have contributed to the fact that I always felt at ease with him.
Chief McDonald granted a big favor to me that I would not have dared approaching Chief Hallmark or Chief Dodson about. I will discuss that favor later under "Personal."
Chief McDonald granted a big favor to me that I would not have dared approaching Chief Hallmark or Chief Dodson about. I will discuss that favor later under "Personal."
Chief McDonald liked motorcycles for traffic law enforcement. On one occasion he conducted some research and found that four motorcycles on the day shift only produced twice as many traffic tickets as all the patrols on three shifts combined. I believe that is the reason that he continued to increase the number of motorcycles of the Traffic Division. He purchased another solo motorcycle bringing the fleet to two 3 wheelers and three solo motorcycles. He later increased this to a total of eight and then to a total of ten.
The Abilene PD got it's first shoulder patch under Chief McDonald. The patches were donated by a local medical Doctor. A few months later, a patch for the right shoulder was issued. With the exception of motor officers, the patch was round with the words "Police Patrol" and with lightening like figures to represent police radio waves being transmitted. Motor officers wore a wheel ,wing and arrow insignia much like that worn by Motor Officers in many other police departments.
I was working the evening shift when the first patches were issued. The patches were issued at the end of the shift. I believe they handed out three patches to each officer on the first issue with additional patches issued later. A newly promoted Captain Warren Dodson headed the midnight shift that was to relieve us. Captain Dodson walked into the office while patches were being handed out. I must say, he was extremely sharp looking in his uniform. Someone thought it a good idea to play a joke on the new Captain and sell his patches to him. The person handing out the patches said that will be $3.00. Dodson reached into his wallet and pulled out the money and handed it to the officer who in turn handed him his patches. Everyone had a good laugh, then his money was returned to him.
I have had an ongoing debate with myself concerning which Chief changed the patrol cars from black to white. For a while I was leaning toward Chief Dodson being the Chief who did this, but the more I think about it, I believe I remember some white Plymouth patrol cars in the drive way at the old Police Station. on Cypress Street while W. B. "Red" McDonald was Chief. I know that he was partial to Plymouth patrol cars. .
His resignation as Chief had nothing to do with his hiring practices as has been reported. The hiring of Police Officers inAbilene
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| The First Patch of the Abilene Police Department, Adopted under Chief W. B."Red" McDonald |
I was working the evening shift when the first patches were issued. The patches were issued at the end of the shift. I believe they handed out three patches to each officer on the first issue with additional patches issued later. A newly promoted Captain Warren Dodson headed the midnight shift that was to relieve us. Captain Dodson walked into the office while patches were being handed out. I must say, he was extremely sharp looking in his uniform. Someone thought it a good idea to play a joke on the new Captain and sell his patches to him. The person handing out the patches said that will be $3.00. Dodson reached into his wallet and pulled out the money and handed it to the officer who in turn handed him his patches. Everyone had a good laugh, then his money was returned to him.
I have had an ongoing debate with myself concerning which Chief changed the patrol cars from black to white. For a while I was leaning toward Chief Dodson being the Chief who did this, but the more I think about it, I believe I remember some white Plymouth patrol cars in the drive way at the old Police Station. on Cypress Street while W. B. "Red" McDonald was Chief. I know that he was partial to Plymouth patrol cars. .
His resignation as Chief had nothing to do with his hiring practices as has been reported. The hiring of Police Officers in
After having served as Chief of Police in two municipalities, I now understand W.B. McDonald’s resignation as Chief. There are some people who would not be happy if they were to be hung with a brand new rope. Sometime police officers bicker and bicker about nothing until they stir it into a hornets nest. Sometimes grown men, police officers no less because of jealousy and misunderstanding of one another can act like children; even worse, like teenagers. I know this from personal experience. It can make a Chief become fed-up and just walk away. That is what occurred in the case of Chief W.B. McDonald. He resigned as Chief and reverted to his previous rank of Captain in accordance with State Law and the Rules and Regulations of the Civil Service Commission. I will discuss my opinion of Chief McDonald's resignation as Chief of Police under "Personal."
When he resigned as Chief, Warren Dodson was appointed Chief of Police. About three years later, then Captain McDonald retired from the Abilene Police Department. I believe that somehow his actions based upon "protection of his informants at all costs" placed him in a position that left no other option than just to walk away into retirement.
I feel privileged to have been part of two eras in law enforcement history; the end of an era under Chiefs Hallmark and McDonald and the beginning of a new era under Chief Dodson.
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Warren Dodson served as Chief of Police in Abilene, Texas 1957 - 1987.
The third and last Chief that I worked under was Warren Dodson. He was the extreme opposite of Chief C.Z. Hallmark in more ways than one. What ever Chief Hallmark was, Chief Dodson was not. What ever Chief Hallmark was not, Dodson was. Dodson for one thing could not be intimidated by anyone. If he thought himself to be right, I think he would face down a grizzly bear.
Early in his tenure as Chief of Police, he replaced the block lettering of Police car door markings with a large gold replica of the APD Badge. He replaced the left front fender mounted combination siren and red light with a "bubblegum machine" type red light mounted in the center of the top of the car. He replaced the mechanical siren with electronic sirens. He later replaced the single roof mounted " bubblegum machine" type red lights with a pair of them. This was followed by light bars.
He was the first Abilene Chief of Police to attend the FBI National Academy. He was an extremely complex man. He was a thinker and was far ahead of his time.
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More to Follow:
I feel privileged to have been part of two eras in law enforcement history; the end of an era under Chiefs Hallmark and McDonald and the beginning of a new era under Chief Dodson.
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| Obit of Chief Walter B. "Red" McDonald from The Abilene Reporter News. |
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| Chief of Police, Warren Dodson |
The third and last Chief that I worked under was Warren Dodson. He was the extreme opposite of Chief C.Z. Hallmark in more ways than one. What ever Chief Hallmark was, Chief Dodson was not. What ever Chief Hallmark was not, Dodson was. Dodson for one thing could not be intimidated by anyone. If he thought himself to be right, I think he would face down a grizzly bear.
Early in his tenure as Chief of Police, he replaced the block lettering of Police car door markings with a large gold replica of the APD Badge. He replaced the left front fender mounted combination siren and red light with a "bubblegum machine" type red light mounted in the center of the top of the car. He replaced the mechanical siren with electronic sirens. He later replaced the single roof mounted " bubblegum machine" type red lights with a pair of them. This was followed by light bars.
He was the first Abilene Chief of Police to attend the FBI National Academy. He was an extremely complex man. He was a thinker and was far ahead of his time.
Keep watching and reading !
Tales of the Abilene Police Department
Tales of the APD
Abilene, Texas Police Department
Abilene, Texas
Abilene, Texas Chiefs of Police
Chief of Police
Abilene, Texas Chiefs of Police
Chief of Police
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