THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607110142
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 234 lines
AS HIS JUNE 30 retirement got closer and closer, Gilbert F. ``Spud'' Jackson got looser and looser.
The weight of responsibility began to lift for the spit-polished former Marine who had ruled the police department with an iron fist for nearly two decades.
And the gruff commander began to laugh, even cracking jokes with his off-beat brand of humor.
Few people had ever seen the lighter side of him at work.
Few had glimpsed the feeling, caring part of their stern-faced leader, who had entered law enforcement hoping to make a difference in someone's life. A police officer had done that for him when he was a youngster, though he will only allude to the incident.
Few would have believed that Jackson, 61, would have trouble saying goodbye.
``I broke up,'' he said after the early morning roll call on his last weekday at the office as he fought to retain his composure.
And he came back on Saturday and Sunday for each roll call to bid farewell to his troops. Then he turned in his car keys and left his hat on the desk.
On July 1, he returned as a civilian for the City Council's organizational meeting, where he received a resolution of appreciation.
Major William A. Freeman had been named acting chief until a permanent department head could be chosen.
``I saw a total difference in him,'' said Freeman. ``The pressure and responsibility of the job was lifted off his shoulders.''
For Jackson, retiring doesn't come easy.
``I feel like I'm abandoning the battle in the middle,'' he said.
But after nearly 38 years, it was time to put aside the uniform.
``That's me,'' he said wryly, pointing to a dead rose in a vase on his desk.
After serving in Korea with the Marines, he joined the Norfolk Police Department in 1958, working through the ranks to become a sergeant in the detective bureau, specializing in homicide investigations.
In 1970, he became one of the ``dirty dozen'' who started a police department in the former Nansemond County, working from the county offices on Constance Road in Suffolk behind the courthouse.
He was second in command under former Chief H.L. Mundie, a former State Patrol officer. They started from scratch, Jackson said.
``We would fight over who's going to have the pen and who's going to have the notebook,'' he said. ``He usually ended up with both.''
And though Jackson had moved to Hampton Roads when he was 8, at heart he was still a country boy from rural North Carolina.
``I was born so far back in the sticks that Suffolk looked like metropolitan New York to me,'' said Jackson, who had earned his nickname by picking potatoes on an uncle's farm near Statesville.
The officers scrambled for secondhand cars from the State Police and used uniforms from the Division of Motor Vehicles, said Kenny Snuffer, who retired from the Suffolk detective bureau last December.
``We didn't have any records,'' Snuffer said. ``And no computers. But we had a lot of good people, dedicated people. We made it work.''
The former Norfolk officers thought they were going to the country, getting away from the homicides and kidnappings of the big city.
Jackson, his supervisor who would become chief of the combined police departments after the merger of Suffolk and the former Nansemond County, was ``strictly to-the-point, no kidding around on the job,'' Snuffer said.
``He was a stickler on uniforms and protocol,'' he said. ``He wasn't the type to want you to write 100 parking tickets. If you didn't need to cite someone, he didn't want you to.''
He expected the officers to conduct thorough investigations.
``All in all, we worked well together,'' Snuffer said.
Sanford ``Sanny'' Chapman, another who helped form the ``rag-tag'' county force, also admired Jackson's integrity. Though they often differed on opinions, they worked well together.
``Usually when he asked me a question, he wanted an answer, not reinforcement,'' Chapman said. ``We had a good level of mutual respect. I would argue a point until I was blue in the face. But his was the final decision, and that's the way we went.''
Chapman, however, didn't get off to a great start with the man who would soon be his chief.
Not long after the Nansemond County Police Department was formed, Chapman and another officer went to the northern part of the county to investigate several stolen cars that had been found.
``While we were up there, we found a snakeskin that a snake had shed,'' he said. ``The other officer with me knew the chief real well and said, `You ought to get that and carry that back to the chief. He collects them.' ''
So Chapman naively carried the skin - about 5 feet long - back to headquarters and presented it to his supervisor, who has a tremendous phobia of snakes.
``He went spastic,'' said Chapman, who retired three years ago as captain of the uniform division. ``I came to know that this guy does not care for snakes. I was not one of his favorites for a long time.''
Suffolk never had any problems like the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles, Chapman said, because of Jackson's leadership.
``It starts at the top,'' he said, noting that officers would not use such force if their supervisors didn't condone it and cover for them.
``Jackson is not like that at all,'' Chapman said.
There were two things Jackson would not tolerate in his officers, he said.
``One was lying. If he ever caught you in a lie, you were through. He had such a fine line of integrity. The second was abuse of your authority.''
Jackson would not allow the officers to carry blackjacks, even before they were outlawed. Nor would he allow them to carry big, steel flashlights that other departments sometimes used to beat people, he said.
``The chief was about the firmest person I ever worked for, especially concerning abuse and abuse of authority,'' Chapman said.
Suffolk Sheriff Raleigh Isaacs came from Norfolk with the others to form the county police force.
``Many a night, I was out on duty by myself on the street - the only officer in the county,'' Isaacs said. ``We were spread pretty thin. But there was an awful lot of team work and camaraderie in those days.''
Winning the respect of the county residents was difficult, he said.
``But we jumped in and put our noses to the grindstone and worked an enormous number of hours to try to prove ourselves,'' he said.
Jackson was always one step ahead of him in advancement, said Isaacs who later entered politics, running for sheriff.
``His management style was authoritarian,'' he said. ``It differed from mine. But he's certainly done a good job and I commend him on it.''
Jackson had provided leadership as second-in-command for six years before becoming chief of the combined departments after Suffolk merged with the former Nansemond County, Isaacs said.
Occasionally, the officers and their families would have a cookout or other type of get-together, he said. But mostly, the relationship centered on work.
Major Freeman, who worked under Jackson for 25 years, agreed that Jackson maintained a business attitude in the office.
``I couldn't decide whether we had a professional relationship or if he was a friend,'' Freeman said.
The department has recently lost a great deal of experienced leadership within a short time, said Freeman, who joined the county force as a rookie a year after the department was formed.
``We would have three or four people on the street on a shift,'' he said. ``Hopefully, it helped us all become better officers.''
Once early in his career, Jackson accompanied Freeman on a call to arrest a man for setting a house fire.
``I was the only one who knew where the house was,'' said Freeman, a Suffolk native. ``Being young, I wanted to get there first but I remember him saying to wait for him.''
When they got there, Jackson hollered, ``Police,'' he said, but the guy took off running through a swamp with Jackson and several other officers chasing him.
Freeman, however, took a shortcut and caught him. Jackson - the older and more experienced officer - later calmly told him, ``Good job.''
``I never remember seeing him get excited to the point where he would lose control,'' Freeman said.
Jackson has little to say about his retirement plans or his personal life.
Divorced three times - twice from the same woman - and with three children, including a stepdaughter he adopted, he declines to discuss his family.
He plans to travel some this summer with friends and he will likely continue to spend time on the golf course with friends and at meetings of the North Suffolk Rotary Club, where he's been a member for nine years and has been president.
His departure from law enforcement marks the loss of experienced leadership for Suffolk Police.
``That department, when it changes, will take on the personality of the new chief,'' Chapman said. ``I sincerely hope with all I know that it will not lose the level of integrity that has set us apart from a lot of other departments.''
Wylie M. Bunker, a lieutenant in the detective department, summed it up this way:
``It's the end of an era,'' Bunker said. ``But the legacy continues.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Cover Photo
Staff photos, including cover, by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Gilbert F. ``Spud'' Jackson , Suffolk police chief, right, gets a
reaction from Wylie M. Bunker, a lieutenant in the detective
department, after telling a joke.
Staff photos, including cover, by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Gilbert F. ``Spud'' Jackson, Suffolk police chief, right, gets a
reaction from Wylie M. Bunker, a lieutenant in the detective
department, after telling a joke.
``I feel like I'm abandoning the battle in the middle,'' Jackson
said.
1970 file photo
Jackson, front center, helped start a police department in Nansemond
County.
[Box]
LOOKING BACK
Career path of former Police Chief Gilbert F. Jackson
Norfolk Police Department
May 16, 1958 to September 30, 1970
Nansemond County Police Department
October 1, 1970 to June 6, 1972
City of Nansemond Police Department
July 1, 1972 to December 31, 1973
Suffolk Police Department
July 1, 1974 to June 30, 1996
Appointed Chief November 1, 1976
WHAT OTHERS SAY
Photos
Chapman
Isaacs
Freeman
What others say about former Police Chief Gilbert F. ``Spud''
Jackson:
You see a person day after day, you know what kind of person they
are. He doesn't have to say, `I'm honest.' You know he is.''
Linda Keeling, Jackson's secretary for 14 1/2 years.
He's been an excellent chief.''
Sergeant J.E. Thompson, Suffolk Police detective
I sincerely hope, with all I g4sscov11 Chapman
know that it will not lose the level of integrity that has set us
apart from a lot of other Tidewater de-part-ments.''
Sanford ``Sanny'' Chapman, who worked under Jackson for 23 years.
``His management style was authoritarian. It was different
g5sscov11 Isaacs from mine. But he's certainly done a good job,
and I commend him on it.
Sheriff Raleigh Isaacs, who helped form the Nanseond County
Police Department in 1970.
``I couldn't decide whether g6sscov11 Freeman
we had a professional relationship or if he was a friend.''
Major William A. Freeman, who worked under Jackson 25 years.
It's the end of an era, but his legacy continues.''
Lieutenant Wylie M. Bunker, Suffolk Police detective
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB