fbinaa_10-2019-Digital_press

Cindy Reed THE HISTORIAN'S SPOTLIGHT

T he National Academy Association recently learned of a bequest from Doyle Bateman , graduate of the 71st Session (1963). Mr. Bateman was hired in 1948 and retired in 1981 with the rank of Lt.-Administrative Assistant to the Chief after serving 33 years with the Waynesboro, VA Police Department. He was also the department’s first plain clothes detective. Mr. Bate- man considered it a high honor to be the second member of the department to be accepted into the Academy and proudly displayed a picture on his office wall shaking hands with Director J. Edgar Hoover . Chief Phil Broadfoot worked with Doyle in Waynesboro PD. Chief Broadfoot stated that he joined in 1973 when all the members of the “greatest generation” were close to retiring. He fondly remembered that Doyle was one of them. A Quiet and Enduring Legacy to The Association

This donation was a welcome surprise to the Association. In doing research for this article, I found it difficult to nail down exactly what was the impetus for this most gracious bequest. It does not appear that Doyle ever served on his chapter’s Execu- tive Board and I was not able to track down any members of his session. (Note: there were only a handful of his session mates who have email address and remain active members of their chapters.) Although he had no heirs, family members related to his wife were interviewed and did not remember any conversa- tions about the National Academy. In many ways, this generous gift reminds me of the quiet librarian or bus driver whose attach- ment to a cause or location is not revealed until the reading of the will after their passing and the endowment to a scholarship or school. We don’t always know the impact of milestones along our life’s journey. Moving forward, now that the Association has been noti- fied of the bequest, the Education & Training Staff and Training Committee have proposed initiatives to begin using the training resources in the 2020 Budget. Upon approval of the budget, one of the key initiatives will be the announcement of the FBINAA’s Chapter Mini-Grant Program providing funding for education and training for domestic and international Chapters. The Chapter Mini-Grant Program will enable the Chapters to provide cutting-

Doyle was short (5’4”) and known as The Bear because he allowed his fingernails to grow long. His hands were referred to as Bear Claws and his office as the Bear Den. Ac- cording to Broadfoot, officers in those days had their own way of doing things and their own challenges in getting the job done. They drove cars with bench seats, so in high pursuit situations, they would have to clutch onto

Sgt. Doyle O. Bateman

the steering wheel whenever they went around a right hand cor- ner so they would not slide too far into the passenger seat side. There were also no hand held radios, so they would have to stop at call boxes downtown to receive and deliver information. There were 35 officers in the uniformed division where Doyle worked. According to Broadfoot, Doyle was involved in one fatality shoot in his career. After retirement, Bateman helped his wife Jane with her real estate business, worked on airplane models and doted on his two Boston terriers. Doyle and his wife Jane did not have any children of their own and only limited contact with various nieces and nephews. Doyle Bateman passed away in 1996. When his wife Jane passed away in January 2017, she inserted language into her will to ensure that a portion of her estate would be donated to the FBI National Academy Associates to be used solely for training. This amount ($250,000) was received at the end of December 2018 and a remaining amount will be received once all the final estate assets are sold. It has been allocated to the Professional Development Fund.

Sgt. Doyle O. Bateman, wife Jane.

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