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CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 1948—FAVORS TRAINING SCHOOLSECTION BBy MARY GENE KELLYThe day of the blackjack, whenthe best policeman was the toughest one and enforcement meant force in the form of batteredheads, is gone and the day of theprofessionally trained police officer is coming. Tom Matthews citydetective for the past eightyears and peace officer here and in San Antonio for 17 years, believes.Matthews, now chief of the city detective division, is glad to see the change from brute force to brains and hopes to see the daywhen every police department adopts San Antonio’s plan of a police cadet training school. “Those rookies go to school andstudy police work for severalmonths before thev are allowed in. ^a patrol car, Matthews explained. “Finally they are assigned to ride, as unarmed observers, with experienced men.Assigned After TrainingOnly after their training and field work are completed satisfactorily are the men promoted to regular rank and given assignments to be carried out on their own responsibility.“When a new police officer has to jump into his job without adequate training, it is an injustice to the officer and to the citizens with whom he deals, the detective chief said.Police work, especially detection, is hobby as well as job to Matthews. He devotes much of his spare time to reading articles on the subject and finds “something new surprisingly often,Tom Matthews, now a wiry, sandy-haired, blue-eyed 48, was born Tom Frederick Matthews, son and grandson of English gentlemen farmers, in Ban Antonio on April 23, 1900.Father Born In England Tom’s father, Compton S. (Tom I Matthews, was born on the family farm near Bath in England during one of his parents’ 21 trips between Bath and Madi-sonville. Mo., where the Matthews established a farm before the Civil War.Tom’s commuting grandfather, William Matthews, had moved himself, his wife, his children and his servants from England to Missouri before the War Between the States and had built a large brick and black walnut plantation homenear the village of Madisonville.Madisonville, now abandoned, was at that time a small battlefield for the anti and pro-slave residents of the area. Many abloody battle between the two factions was fought near the Matthews home.Hopes to Return to EnglandWilliam Matthews and some of his older children could not reconcile themselves to life in theMissouri wilderness and found itnecessary to return to the family home in England at regular intervals to keep up with affairs in the outside world.Compton himself made seven❖ v' xHraB -,lt;n -,r vXvsraflr*' .v®*fcwafeSf~jjr *1, J i ' ■ ' • ■» - » • t 1 • ■ • VTOM MATTHEWStrips to England during his lifetime. Son Tom has never been back to the old country, although he hopes someday to see the old place near Bath.Tom was bom in San Antonioafter a doctor had sent his father,a physician himself, west to die of tuberculosis. Either the diagnosis was false or the climate was more healing than the doctor hoped, for Compton lived to be 86.As a child, Tom went to school only when he could not avoid it, to the distress of a well-educated father, and studied Spanish at home with the other children under a tutor.Tf»ved Here In 1906The Spanish stands him in good stead today, for he can speak, read and write the language well, a talent that is essential in police work In South Texas.The family moved to Corpus Christi for a short stay in 1906and bought a home on Ocean Drive. One of the girls became ill with typhoid, however, and the father lost no time in shippisx children, horse, buggy and furniture back to San Antonio.The children liked Corpus Christi during their stay. Tom’s brother Oscar picked up spending money by conducting a sightseeing tripbetween the downtown district and the causeway. Oscar, a San Antonio peace officer, died last summer.Tom and Oscar became auto mechanics after they finishedschool and were in business until 1931, when Tom began working as a peace officer in San Antonio. He was with the constable’s office, the sheriff’s office and the city shop lifting detail before coming to Corpus Christi 10 years ago.In Police Department Since 1938He has been in the Corpus Christi Police Department since 1938, when the department had only 34officers.He is married to the formerMable Alice Andrews, a native of London. Eng., whom he met atthe 1921 Exposition in Toronto, Canada, and has two children and five grandsons. His son, William, who lives in Creede, Colo., has two sons, one of them named forTom. 'His daughter, Elizabeth, novr Mrs. H. G. Lakin, lives in Corpus Christi with her three sons, Glen, 6, Andrew, 2, and David, 8months.The Matthews live at 205 Bush-ick.Tom Matthews’ four sisters, all living in San Antonio, are Mrs. Ada Chassar. Mrs. Blanche Kates. 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Newspaper Details
Corpus Christi Times
Corpus Christi, Texas, US
Wed, Jul 07, 1948
Page 13
Full Page
Clipped by
Kenneth M.
CA, USA 13 Aug 2021
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