Posted 09 November 2009 - 07:40 AM
A Retired FWPD Sgt.
It was down to the last game in baseball's World Series when St. Louis finally defeated the Yankees in 1926 and down to the last minutes when Stella Stout told her husband, Joe, that the baby was on the way. In a typical male rationale, Joe explained to his wife it was too soon for the baby but agreed to accompany her to the doctor's office in the Flatiron Building at 9th and Houston, in Fort Worth. Loading Stella into their "Hupmobile", he drove from their home in Handley through the bumpy dirt streets to downtown. James Stout was jarred into the world, on July 16th, 1926, as soon as Dr. John Stanfield greeted the couple at the office door. Jim served in the Navy from 1943 - 1946 where he learned to ride motorcycles.
Two months after Officer W.O. Whatley was killed in an on-duty motorcycle accident, 22-year-old Stout answered an advertisement for a Fort Worth motorcycle officer. Whether he knew of Whatley's demise is immaterial, Stout took and passed the entrance test, but was told to return when he turned twenty-three, the minimum age for police officers in June of 1949. Jim followed the instructions and returned to the department to claim a position on September 1st. Issued a cap shield, badge and whistle, he spent his first day with Officer J.H. "Jim" Hackney excelling in his new job by writing six tickets and not crashing his motorcycle. From his $185.00 a month paycheck, he purchased his uniform, a gray linen shirt and pants, shoes, cap, and gun. He also furnished his own 1948 Harley Davidson motorcycle and began a 35-year career, working a six-day workweek.
In February 1952, Detective H.E. Cleveland was killed and Detective A.L. Armstrong was wounded in the upper torso during an arrest attempt on Queen Street in east Fort Worth. The injured officer was assisted to Sergeant Howard Gurley's unit and requested to be placed in the front passenger seat before he was whisked toward the hospital. Officer Stout was listening to the chatter of the police radio as Gurley sped down E. Lancaster where Stout picked up the speeding patrol unit and escorted it to the intersection of Lancaster and Main. Stout swung wide to make the left turn and laid the motorcycle so far over on its side that sparks danced across the pavement. Later Armstrong was sitting on the hospital bed and told Stout he thought he’d have to make room for him in the patrol car, when the motorcycle lay over on its side.
In 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, was laid to rest in Rose Hill Cemetery on E. Lancaster. Sergeants Ray Barnes, and Stout, among others were assigned a 12-hour shift to guard the gravesite for fear vandals would desecrate the grave. A cemetery employee, removing old flowers from Oswald's grave, found a card among one of the bouquets. Stout was pulling his shift when the cemetery employee approached him and tossed the card through the patrol car window. The card was written in Russian and Stout contacted the Texas Christian University Linguistics Department requesting the writing be translated. "To Alec, From Loving Marina. Sleep Quietly My Dear Husband. Marina Oswald, 1 December 1963."
Jim, now a 19-year veteran, was assigned as flight officer on the new Bell 47G-5 helicopter, which was purchased by the City of Fort Worth. The helicopter was new to the law enforcement community and Stout had to write procedures for the use of the "eyes in the sky" to assist Fort Worth's 600 officers in locating and apprehending criminals.
Stout became friends with Astronaut Alan Bean and proposed to Mayor R.H. Stovall that Bean be made an Honorary Fort Worth Police Officer. Stovall embraced the idea and sent Jim to Houston, Texas on September 9, 1969, to present Bean an honorary police commission and Fort Worth police badge in an informal ceremony. One onlooker said, "He'll be operating out of Fort Worth's most way out sub-station." Bean blasted off for the moon, police badge and identification tucked securely inside his spacesuit. As he stepped off the ladder onto the moon's surface, he was not only making history as the 4th man to walk the moon but also the first Fort Worth Police Officer. Bean as a police officer, technically, was on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year when he reported to his new sub-station and began patrolling his beat with that first step onto the moon's surface. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram dubbed Bean as Fort Worth's first "Astrocop."
Another of Jim's talents was the use and understanding of sign language. Being concerned about police services to all Fort Worth citizens he asked a hearing impaired friend, Bill Mason, if there was any service available whereby the hearing impaired could instantly contact emergency services. Mason related there were hearing impaired people who to communicated with friends or contacted a message center with the use of a TTY machine. Stout approached Camillia Martin who worked in the Community Services Division of the police department and after several phone calls and a lot of coordinating Mrs. Martin was able to find a TTY coupler, which Western Union donated to the department. The Fort Worth Knights of Columbus donated another necessary part of the new system, a computer. The police department's cost was installing a private telephone line with the number known only to those hearing impaired persons who had TTY machines in their homes.
In 1976, a new police shoulder patch was presented to a uniform committee through a design contest. For many years, officers in the department assumed that Officer Ludwig Bruno, who was an artist and killed in the line of duty, had submitted the winning design. Retired Sergeant Jim Stout was talking to Deputy Chief B.J. Kirkpatrick and mentioned he had designed the patch and had taken it all over the world. Kirkpatrick determined to find the truth, looked into the situation and found Stout had indeed designed the present day patch which a Uniform Committee had approved. He declared his finding didn't lessen Bruno’s contribution to the department, nor take away from his talents as an artist. Today's shoulder patch is prized by the department, however many officers may not know what each part of the design represents. The shield shape depicts the symbol of protection, the same as it did in medieval days. The Star represents the founding of law enforcement in this country during the frontier days and also the Texas logo, "The Lone Star State". A center ring locks the star inside and represents unity and the continuing purposes of law enforcement. The steer head, the same as on the City flag, was placed over the star to serve as a reminder of the city's old west heritage.
Before retiring from his police career on December 31, 1984, Jim escorted: seven Presidents of the United States, numerous astronauts, foreign and domestic dignitaries. When famous celebrities came to Fort Worth, Stout would be found at their side providing protection and friendship.
Sgt. Stout lives on Fort Worth's eastside and has created several FWPD items of interest such as large ceramic badges and watches with the patch inlaid on the face. He continues to donate police memorabilia to the Fort Worth Historical Association.
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