Former Oxford cop writes

By Don Rush

These days life for former Oxford Police Officer James Malcolm starts by finishing up his morning chores.

“I wash dishes, have my coffee, walk my dog Jimmie and watch old episodes of Leave It To Beaver,” Malcolm said from his home in Arizona. “You’ve got to love retirement, you can do all the things you always wanted to but never had the time.”

And, when he’s not doing his chores, spending time with Jimmie the dog, or his motivator-in-chief, wife Patty, he also spends time looking up history and writing. As of last month, he has two books under his gun belt, A History of the Oxford, Michigan Police Department, 1837 to 2000 (published last year), and his latest, The Oxford Police Departments, in the United States, Canada, England and New Zealand.

Malcolm worked most of his adult life as an Oxford Police officer starting in 1973 and retiring in 2000. His latest book is 176 pages of the histories of a number of Oxford law departments as well as pictures of badges and patches from around the globe we call Earth. A lover of history, he started to take interest in Oxfords other than Michigan in the mid 1990s.

“In October of 1996 I got a letter from an Officer Terrance Knox of the Oxford Ohio Police Department,” Malcolm said. “He wanted to swap department patches and went on to tell me he had just inherited a police patch collection his agency had been keeping from his sergeant. Three hundred patches in the collection, which the department displayed in their lobby. Among the patches were ones from other Oxford police departments. So, Terry started looking for more and he clued me in on other departments. Got me curious, so I started researching other Oxford agencies and found out there were quite a few. That started me on ‘my mission’ to find out about them and collect patches, badges and whatever else I could obtain for a collection of all the Oxford police departments. And I’m still collecting — just got two badges for my collection that are not in the book. Over the years since then, I’ve communicated with officers and chiefs from the other Oxfords and have made a lot of good friends.”

Malcolm said there are 42 cities, villages and counties around the world that have an Oxford. Of them, 32 have had or presently have a police department, sheriff department, marshals office, night watch or constable.

“Twenty-seven of them are in the United States, of those only two have never had, or at least I have not found any record of a police department of any kind. Those two are in California and Florida,” he said.

Malcolm contacted every department by phone, email or written correspondence. “In some cases it was the historical society for the town, a state university in there, newspapers and whatever else I could dig up with information. I did it because I wanted to know what the community was like, who had served, stories of incidents, what happened to the departments and any other historical background I could get. I am not a journalist, but I know that a story is only as good as the research you put into it. I am not nor never will be a professional writer, but I am one hell of a good investigator.”

Malcolm said he wants the “other Oxford” communities to know what their agencies and their officers have done for the safety and progress of their towns. “I wanted the officers who have served, are serving and their families to know their deeds. Also, I thought it would be great for the Oxfords to know they aren’t the only ones,” he said.

“I learned that each Oxford community or county is rich in history and proud of it,” Malcolm said. “The people love their communities and support them. I love Oxford (MI) and miss it greatly, but because of health issues we had to move to a warmer climate. My family goes back in the Oxford area to the early 1930’s with my grandparents and further with my cousin Margret Stoddard’s family.”

A driven collector of Oxford police memorabilia, he is always on the lookout for more. “It’s a passion,” he said. “ Every patch, badge and pin in the book is from my own collection. My intent is that the collection stays together forever. Every one of the badges was worn by an officer and when their badge sells it’s usually from their family as they’ve passed on. I guess I feel it’s my duty to protect their shields. Over a hundred different patches and 72 badges, various tie bars and tie pins, some department history books, sword belt buckles, challenge coins and a bunch of other stuff in my collection.”

He also wanted to point out and thank local Oxford people who helped him with his books, Oxford Village Police Chief Mike Solwold, Oxford Village Councilwoman Maureen Burke, former Village Clerk Rosie Bejma and former Oxford Police and Fire Department Chief Jack LeRoy.

Malcolm said he may write another book, it depends on what he discovers while researching history.

“Maybe someday, if I’m still around, I’ll write an update to the book with new information. Either way, if I’m not, I’m passing the torch on to Chief Mike Solwold. He’s always kept the faith.”