Paul Todd

THB PAUL H. TODD SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT FUND IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
AT IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY
Paul Henry Todd was born on March 10, 1920, at Castleford, Idaho, the seventh of eight children born to Rosa Lee Hall Todd and the Reverend Isaac Todd. Paul’s parents had moved to Idaho from Eastern Tennessee, just before Paul’s birth, so that their four sons would not grow up to work in the coal mines, and suffer from black lung disease.
The Todd family was well-suited to pioneer their eighty acre ranch. They cleared the sage brush, put in irrigation, and built their home and farm buildings. Rev. Todd had many talents and skills. He was an excellent farmer and carpenter, as well as preacher. He loved to visit the people of his community and the surrounding country. He began selling Watkins Products as a way to get acquainted with people so he could share his faith. He had little sense of time, and his wife never knew when to expect him home. Paul learned to share his father’s love of conversation, of people, and learned many skills from him.
Paul learned to do the plumbing, the wiring, and the roofing needed around a house. He could overhaul a car engine, and became an excellent cook. Family barbecues were always a celebration, with Paul cooking at the grill.
Paul graduated from Castleford High School in 1938, where he lettered in football. He attended Linfield Baptist College at McMinville, Oregon for a year and a half, until 1940, on a scholarship. He then returned to Castleford to work on the farm for a year. Then he enrolled at Albion State Normal School in Albion, Idaho, but before the year was out, the gathering storm clouds of World War II caused the federal government to impose a draft. Paul was inducted in Buhl in June 1942, and was sent to Ft. Douglas, Utah, for basic training.
When basic training was complete, the other men were shipped out to various places, but Paul remained behind. After several weeks, Paul became concerned about why he was still at Ft. Douglas, so· he went to his commanding officer to make inquiries. “Oh, and what was the name?” the officer asked. “Paul H. Todd.” The officer looked through his papers, and then told Paul to be patient. His test scores were exceptionally high, and so they had special plans for him; he was to be sent to a special school in Missouri.
Paul attended the U.S. Army Signal Corps School at Camp Crowder, Missouri from November 1942 to February 1943.
Before going overseas, through mutual friends, Paul met a student nurse, Kary Louise Jester, in Wilmington, Delaware. They fell in love and were engaged to be married. But then Paul was shipped to Europe from Camp Shanks, New York. When Louise completed nurses training, she enlisted as an officer and served in the 89th Field Hospital Unit, which was never far from the front lines—in the Pacific theater.

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Paul served in the U.S. Signal Radio Intelligence Corp in Europe until December 1945. He was trained to be an intercept operator specializing in the German language, serving in France, Germany and other areas of Europe.
Paul’s unit, the 116th Intelligence Company, was an elite group of men who employed new, innovative signal and surveillance equipment to locate enemy communication emplacements. It was Paul’s unit that cracked the secret German communication codes.
Paul was sent first to London, and on June 6, 1944, D­ Day Euro·pe , he fought his way ashore with his unit, landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy. This beach was the most devastated landing area 9f the operation, and his unit, along with others, sustained enormous losses.
Paul survived the D-Day landing to cross Europe, searching for enemy emplacements and calling in air strikes to eliminate them. He rode with Patton’s tanks to Berlin, Germany, and participated in interviewing prisoners for repatriation at the end of World War II.
When Paul’s father died in March 1945, the European armies were involved with Hitler’s last major counter­ attack, the Battle of the Bulge. Paul was not allowed to return home even for his father’s funeral. When the war was over and the people in the service were being sent home, the men with families went first, married men without children next, and single men like Paul, last. He was put to work helping run a train to haul food and coal to the hungry civilian populations of Europe.
In those difficult days, correspondence between the European and Pacific fronts was slow at best, and when Louise arrived back in the States, she didn’t know whether Paul had returned or not. She was at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, and phoned Paul’s sister, Bessie, to find out what she knew about Paul. Much to Louise’s surprise and delight, Bessie put Paul on the line. Paul was discharged December 10, 1945, and they were married on January 26, 1946, in Silverbrook Methodist Church in Wilmington, Delaware.
That ended four years of world-spanning engagement, but their time of separation was not over. Paul returned to Idaho, and Louise returned to Camp Edwards until she was discharged in April 1946, from Camp Beale, California. She traveled by train to Pocat llo, where Paul met her and took her home to Buhl. They lived in Buhl for five years.
Louise worked as a nurse in Twin Falls, and Paul was the manager of the B. F. Goodrich Company in Buhl. They built a new home and brought a baby girl, Lynda Lee Todd, into the world in 1949.

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But they were not content without college degrees.
Paul and Louise moved to Pocatello in 1951, where they entered Idaho State College. In June 1954 Paul received his
B.S. degree, with honors, in Sociology with an emphasis in criminology. Louise also earned her B.A. degree in Nursing in 1954. Paul worked as a Security Officer at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory from 1951 to 1952. From November 1952 until June 1955, Paul worked the night shift as a uniformed patrol officer with the Pocatello Police Department.
In July 1955 Paul received an appointment to the ranks of the Idaho State Police. In that same month, their second daughter, Suzanne Louise Todd, was born.
Throughout his life, Paul spent as much time as he could with Louise, Lynda and Suzanne. He supported his daughters in all of their activities. He also supported Louise in her role as Coordinator of the ISU Nursing Program. The family always vacationed together, in an era when many parents left their children behind when going on trips. Paul was very proud of his daughters’ many accomplishments in their chosen health-related occupations, and he counseled them through their difficult times. Paul credited Louise with preserving his life when he suffered a severe coronary in May 1973. In December he underwent open­ heart surgery in Salt Lake City, and received a quadruple
by-pass, and Louise nursed him back to full activity by the following September.
Paul spent the rest of his active law enforcement career with. the Idaho State Police, attaining the rank of Corporal. He saw the advent of police radar, and participated in many other technological advances. He was skilled in all aspects of his work, and was respected by his fellow officers. He was highly skilled in accident investigation and reconstruction, and was considered an expert witness by the courts, an unusual distinction. The license number of his car was 413, and therefore he became known as Office 413. .
In 1966, Paul was approached by the State Board of Education to create, develop, and implement a law enforcement curriculum at Idaho State University. He retired from the Idaho State Patrol and his number, 413, was retired as a tribute to him. He became an employee of Idaho State University. Over the years he updated the law enforcement curriculum, and much of it is still being used today. He became Chairman and Instructor at ISU.

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Paul taught law enforcement at ISU from 1966 to 1971, when he took a sabbatical to study at the University of Idaho from September 1971 through May 1972. He received his master’s degree in education with honors. He returned to teach at ISU from 1972 until his retirement in 1982. He remained an adjunct professor at ISU from his retirement until his death.
He was a member of Phi·Delta Kappa National Education Honor Organization, and was often called upon by the courts as an expert witness. He served many police agencies and police officers as an official and unofficial adviser.
When he retired as Coordinator of the ISU Law Enforcement Program in 1982, he capped a career in law enforcement spanning thirty-one years. He was given citations by the Governor, a Senator and the President, but the honor that he appreciated most came from the Idaho State Police. On behalf of the ISP, Idaho Falls Police Chief Robert Pollock sent Paul a letter in which he addressed him as “Kr. Lav Enforcement,” a well deserved and well earned title. This simple, modest note of gratitude was deeply appreciated by Paul.
At Commencement exercises in May of 1991, Paul H. Todd was honored with posthumous Emerit s status for his service in Law Enforcement. At the same time, Mary Louise Todd was also granted Emeritus status by the University for her service in Nursing.
Paul was a student and teacher of the history of law enforcement, and he noted that prior to 1950, little thought was given to training police officers in Idaho and most of the other areas of the U.S. He said that policemen and deputy sheriffs were selected either by political patronage or because they were willing to work twelve hours a day “for less money than. the local town bum.”
After World War II, a need for training developed “because officers then employed were no match for the wrong­ doers returning from the service.”
In Idaho· the first formal training was developed by the Association of Police Chiefs and the Municipal League. It was called the Basic Police Academy, and it was established in Pocatello, Idaho. Trained instructors were recruited from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Courses taught were “very basic” and did little more than warn police officers of the pitfalls of being a police officer. Paul attended this Academy.
From the first Academy, many special schools were taught by different agencies in other areas in Idaho. Crime rates were low and interaction with citizens was minimal.

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In the 1960’s, however, riots occurred in Washington, o.c., Watts, Chicago, and on college campuses all over the nation. Mass objections arose to various laws within the United States which appeared to restrict the liberties of
people. These laws were targeted- for change by many activists. The increasingly unpopular Viet Nam war played in big role in leading people to seek both symbolic and violent confrontation with police officers.
After many confrontational disputes, the courts began to place many restrictions on law enforcement agencies, and on the legal deportment of all officers. This required extensive training.
In 1965, the State of Idaho developed a State Advisory Committee on Law Enforcement for the Governor. The Governor acted quickly and in September asked the State Board of Education to provide formal college training for all law enforcement personnel. Idaho State University was selected as one of the schools to develop ·s uch a program. Paul Todd
was selecte_d as one of the first instructors, and he began
teaching in September of 1966.
The ISU law enforcement program classroom consisted of a large room equipped only with a few chairs. The first class consisted of only six students. Paul said, “Before the first year was over we found ‘PIG STYE’ scribbled on the classroom door. And students heard all kinds of snide remarks in the cafeteria. It was. a very lonely year. The second year was better, however, as this program became known as 1 TBB FUZZ FACTORY.’”
ISU law enforcement training has progressed steadily
from those early beginning·s. “Today,” Paul said in 1982, “a
police officer is given information to make those important decisions. Most officers graduating from the program are now capable of making these decisions without experiencing them first.” ·
And Paul felt that the training had other benefits as well: “One of the benefits of a law enforcement training program is the sifting out of people who do not have the moral integrity to become good officers.”
Paul Todd was an active member of the Idaho State Police Association, and he was instrumental in securing many scholarships for law enforcement students. Paul created the field experience curriculum for Cadet police officers. He worked with all surrounding police departments to give his students this invaluable on the job training.
He taught photography and was an avid photographer. He was listed in “Who’s Who in the West” from 1980 to 1981. He was a member of the National Rifle Association. He enjoyed gardening, flowers, reading and golfing.

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Lav Enforcement at Idaho State University

Paul, the son of a minister, lived his religion on a daily basis. He contributed freely of his resources and time to his church as well as to his community. He was a member of the Fi st United Methodist Church, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the American Legion. He was also a member of the Benevolent Paternal Order of Elks, the Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite Bodies, and was a past Patron of Ruth Chapter #3 of the Order of the Eastern Star.
He enjoyed community service and served on the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association’s Idaho Chapter, and the American Red Cross. He was an Instructor Trainer for the Red Cross. He traveled extensively to teach classes on traffic safety and control. He taught First Aid and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) from the mid-1950’s until 1988. He designed the curriculum and launched security programs for local and regional hospitals, using his students. He also taught a pari-mutuel officials course on horse racing from February through April from 1982 to 1988.
He was chosen in December of 1982 to deliver the graduation speech for the ISU Law Enforcement Program, and he said in his speech that he considered it to be one of the highest honors he had ever received.
Paul was working one Saturday morning, February 11, 1989, preparing a sweetheart’s dinner for the Masonic Lodge in Pocatello. He had mended from his heart attack in 1973, and from another in 1987. This time he did not recover. It marked the end of a life of great achievement and great kindness, the life of a remarkable teacher.
The Paul B. Todd Scholarship Endowment Fund in Law Enforcement at Idaho state University was started in August 1990 by Mrs. Louise Todd, to fulfill a goal of her late husband to continue to help ISU law enforcement students with a perpetual scholarship.