Remembering The Skull Throughout Victoria Police’s 161 year history, few members have captured the public’s attention like Senior Constable Thomas James Wiseman.
EDITORIAL ANTHONY LONCARIC
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enior Constable Thomas James Wiseman, or Jim, as he preferred to be called, did not necessarily seek the spotlight but couldn’t help being in it, spending most of his 30-year policing career directing traffic on Melbourne’s busiest intersection – Collins and Swanston streets. He joined Victoria Police in 1946 and became known as The Skull for having a face that looked like it was carved out of stone. During his career Jim, who died in 1996, sent about 15,000 people to front traffic court for various offences. His son, Bairnsdale Police Station’s Leading Senior Constable Paul Wiseman, said Jim was respected, and sometimes reviled, for policing road traffic laws with an iron hand. “No one would dare walk through his intersection illegally and he would make taxis reverse and turn back if they had gone halfway through,” Ldg Sen Const Wiseman said. His father was a major influence on him joining Victoria Police and described him as a great role model. “He was a great dad and he would always encourage me to be an honest person,” Ldg Sen Const Wiseman said. “It was a hard life for everyone in those days and he did as much as he could to provide for us. He was as straight a copper as you could get and he always did his utmost to keep people safe.”
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Ldg Sen Const Wiseman often gets asked about his father by members of the public. “People see my surname and ask about Dad even though he retired all those years ago,” he said. “He was the subject of many television and newspaper reports in the 50s and 60s and was on the front cover of a Melbourne street directory in 1966. “When he retired the Herald Sun ran a front page photo of him and said what a big loss he was going to be.” Following his retirement, Jim continued performing traffic duty as a lollipop man in Mooroolbark and Camberwell. “He was an icon in Melbourne and people from all walks of life would recognise him and wish him well,” Ldg Sen Const Wiseman said.
THIS WAY PLEASE .01 Sen Const Wiseman policed traffic laws with an iron hand.
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