Historical April 1977 police column by Sgt. Ted Stewart. Arrests, warrants and quoted recollections describe the original report; arrests are not convictions.
A young man walked up to one of our leading Detectives in the late fifties, and asked that question .The Detective paused for a moment. He then smiled, placing his hand on the shoulder of the young man, and said, “My young friend, one must have outstanding investigative abilities. He must think positively by having a zest for life, and enthusiasm about his work and goals. He must be courageous: able to conquer fear of failure and to defeat any inclination to play it safe. He must also be dependable: able to cooperate with other policemen, and to hold up his end of the load. He must be cooperative: able to work with others foe the common good of all, and tolerate differences, capable of staying with and sweating out a project in spite of opposition and discouraging set backs.”
The Detective then looked up the the sky, and said, “I guess this could apply to any one in any profession — What do you think?” That detective was the late Lieutenant Fred Grimes.
Now in 1977, Team One and the Community are proud to have a detective who displays in his work all of the above. This detective is Rodger Townsend, a St. Louis Police Officer for over eight years. He is a graduate of Beaumont High School; holding a bachelors degree in elementary education from Central Missouri State College. Over the past year, Detective Townsend had over 145 Felony arrests, over 90 Felony clean-ups, and over 60 Felony warrants issued. In the summer of 1976, he was honored by his fellow Officers, as the outstanding Officer of that period.
REMEMBER MY FRIENDS
NOTHING SO CONCLUSIVELY PROVES A MAN’S ABILITY TO LEA[ending clipped in source] OTHERS AS WHAT HE DOES FRO[ending clipped in source] DAY TO DAY TO LEAD HIMSELF.
Original photograph caption
Detective Rodger Townsend. The Paper, April 1977, page 6. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Paper, April 1977.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Printed foe the common good, looked up the the sky, and clipped final maxim explicitly marked.
Original source: SD_Times1977_04.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
