I responded to the inquiry from Mike Vance to offer my help. This was a timely query as I have been knocking the idea around about trying to get police oral histories. I also happened to know Mike. For a number of years I have been a storyteller and occasionally a cowboy poet. Being active in the storytelling community, I have been encouraged to expand my telling of police stories. We should all applaud the efforts of our other writers, Nelson and that old Kopp guy, and this would be a great extension of their work to preserve our policing history.
As I recover from the holidays, I will try to set up some interviews. It must be kept in mind that this info is for the general public’s consumption. Mike Vance is with Houston Media Arts who are planning to give these interviews to Rice and the Houston Library as historical preservation projects. Assuming I can rope some of y’all into recording sessions I will turn over copies to Mike and his folks. I will also maintain copies for my own use and give copies to the subjects. Perhaps, the police museum will be interested also.
Just to let you know who I am, I’m an alumni of class #75 and retired in 1997 to work in my family’s business. My storytelling side line is highlighted in my website, www.TexasLegacies.com . Most of my career was spent at Beechnut(the country club, ha), with a couple of years in Vice.
Certainly, all of you that are interested in gathering oral histories should contact Mike Vance. Our first priorities should be to get some of our oldest retiree’s stories. If you are interested in recording some of your police history, give me a holler.
Scott Bumgardner
713-981-0599
scott@texaslegacies.com
