Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1960-06-16

Odpl. WdLhlilS dlSU ID Tie
youngest man ever appointed
chief of the departments po-
tent detective squad. Actually,
however, he started working to-
ward his present job right after
he graduated from Damascus
High School in 1941.
That year he was accepted as
an assistant fingerprint CLASH
fier at the Federal Bureau Of
Investigation, a fitting start for
a young man whose father was
a longtime county police lieu
tenant.
AS he put 1t the other day,
Capt. Watkins has "eaten, slept
and breathed" crime prevention
and detection all his life. He
loves his job.
His two-year stint at the FBI
was followed by a three-year
hitch with the Army Signal
Corps. He returned to the FBI
upon discharge and Immediately
filed application with the coun-
ty and State police departments.
The county made the first
move and thereby gained one
of the Metropolitan areas top
sleuths.
Capt. Watkins move up the
ladder started routinely. On De-
cenber /, 1916 he was assigned
as a patrolman at the Silver
Spring station. Two months
later he was transferred to Be-
thesda for two years. A short
spell in Identification work at
Rockville followed and then
patrolman Watkins went back
to Silver Spring where he
worked as a uniformed officer
for one year.
Then he switched to the de-
tective bureau, almost exactly
10 years ago. That was the last
time he wore his uniform and
It marked the start of his adj
vancement.
He was made detective cor
poral January 1851, detective
sergeant January 1852 and de-
tective lieutenant July 1858.
His appointment as captain
came December 1, 1888
years to the day from the time
he was sworn in as rookie.
Watkins and three other lieu
tenants were eligible to take
over captaincy of the detective
bureau upon the retirement of
Capt. Gassaway Linthicum last
year. Watkins was the youngest
by several years and had con-
siderably less time on the de-
partment that the other candi-
dates.
All three were in the top
rated Outstanding category"
AS il turned out, Watkins got
the post because he had far
more experience as a detective
than the others. His salary to-
day is $854O, a modest amount
for a man responsible for "a
detectives working in a county
Of $4,000 persons.
Watkins has seen all the
usual aspects of law enforce
ment. He's ticIseted cars in his
time, served hundreds of sub
poenas, investigated accidents,
directed traffic, etc. He feels
undressed without his hip
holstered- .38 caliber special re-
volver.
But it's crime detection that
is Kenny Watkins dish. He
puts in about 10 hours at his
Rockville office five days a
week, but he often returns eve
nings and on his days off. He's
a 24-hour.a-day officer and
thrives on his responsibility.
One of his major accomplish
ments since taking the helm OF
the detective bureau was au-
thoring what he calls a set OF
standard per a I ! n G pro-
cedures." These spell out in de-
tail exactly how the depart
ments four detective bureaus
Rockville, Wheaton Glenmont,
Silver Spring and Bethesda
shall conduct official paper
work dealing with cases under
investigation.
While the public may moi
give this achievement much
weight, Watkins "SOP" regula
tons drew the four stations to
gether into a more tightly knit
haison, lacking before when
each bureau did things just a
little bit differently than the
others.
Otherwise, Capt. Watkins
runs his department pretty
much along the lines estab
lished by his predecessor ano
Superintendent James S. Nc
Auliffe. McAuliffe was captain
of the Bethesda station wher
Watkins was patrolman there
One new thing Capt. Watkins
fOrsees Is the assignment Of q
woman detective to his squad
They come in very handy fol
undercover vice Investigations
and besides, Watkins noted