Jack Webster (August 1923 – June 27, 2002), nicknamed Copper Jack, was a leading police officer, administrator and police historian in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Webster was born in

to an immigrant family from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. At age sixteen, he lied about his age to join the

Royal Canadian Engineers The Canadian Military Engineers (CME; french: links=no, Génie militaire canadien) is the military engineering personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces. The members of the branch that wear army uniform comprise the Corps of Royal Canadian Engi ...

; he later said that he was afraid

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

would already be over if he waited until the legal age of eighteen. Webster was in the army for five years, and served in

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Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He joined the Toronto police force on the same day he was discharged from the army in 1945, and was assigned to a street patrol on Queen Street West. He once identified a person he had seen on his beat as escaped

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Wolfgang Friedlander, which nearly led to Friedlander's capture in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

(Friedlander later turned himself in, fearing his identity would be discovered). Webster was the last

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

to ride a bicycle on his beat, and was the last Toronto policeman to wear a bobby's helmet and tight-necked tunic on duty. In 1958, he was appointed to the city's newly formed Robbery Squad. Webster later became commander of Toronto's homicide squad, and is credited with solving 85 murders. One of the murderers he helped capture was

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gangster

Arthur Lucas Arthur Lucas (December 18, 1907 - December 11, 1962), originally from the United States, U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, was one of the last two people to be executed in Canada, on 11 December 1962. Lucas had been convicted of the m ...

, who was one of the last two criminals executed in Canada before abolition of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. Webster recounted that before his execution, Lucas calmly thanked Webster and his partner for handling the case in a fair manner. Webster said in a 1987 interview that he supported capital punishment, but did not believe it would be re-established in Canada. Webster became chief of detectives, and was eventually chosen to lead the force in

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. In 1976, he became leader of the force in

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with the rank of Staff Superintendent. He once declined an offer to become deputy police chief of Metro Toronto. Had he accepted the offer, he could have become the city's Chief of Police.Gwyn (Jocko) Thomas, "Officer is a walking history of force", ''Toronto Star'', 30 June 1988, A9. He retired from the force in 1988, but returned to work as an official historian at the Toronto Police Museum. In 1991, he published an autobiography entitled ''Copper Jack: My Life on the Force'', co-written with mystery writer Rosemary Aubert. He moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

in 2000 to spend more time with his family. His daughter, Rosemary Vodrey, was a senior

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

provincial government of Gary Filmon during the 1990s. Webster died in 2002, at age 78. Veteran ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' crime reporter Gwyn "Jocko" Thomas spoke at his funeral, and described him as a "superb police officer".

References

*Gwyn "Jocko" Thomas, "Copper Jack leaves a legacy -- Custodian of police history made plenty of his own", ''Toronto Star'', 12 September 2000, 1.
Ellis Quinn, "Police veteran 'Copper Jack' Webster"
''Toronto Star'', 29 June 2002, B3. *Nicholas Keung, "Officer 'cast long shadow' --- Mourners remember Jack Webster's love of family, dedication", ''Toronto Star'', 3 July 2002, B5.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Jack 1923 births 2002 deaths Toronto police officers Canadian Army personnel of World War II Royal Canadian Engineers soldiers Canadian Army soldiers