GREGORY D. WHITLOCK
TERRELL HILLS POLICE CHIEF TO RETIRE FROM DREAM JOB
BY RON AARON EISENBERG
After 44 years in law enforcement, Terrell Hills Police Chief Gregory Whitlock is looking forward to retirement. Not tomorrow. But next August. He says his job is a fairy tale come true. He’s been Terrell Hills police chief since 2008 and also serves as assistant city manager. Whitlock and his wife, Judy, were married in 1972. They have one daughter, Jennifer, a nurse, and two grandchildren. Now he wants to enjoy life and truly spend more time with his family, especially his grandchildren. He told 78209 Magazine, “If I’d known grandchildren are so much fun, I would have had them first.” Here is an up-close and personal look at Chief Whitlock.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: Like a lot of people around here, I was born at the Nix Hospital, on April 25, 1952. My dad was a Marine. He and my mom married in 1945, right after World War II. They stayed married until they passed away. My dad died in 2013 and my mom in 2015. I grew up in Highland Hills, right near the old McCreless Mall. My family’s farm (a dairy farm) was in Losoya. We did not live on the farm, which was on the southeast side. When I got into my teens, I worked on the farm.
Q: What did farming teach you?
A: The experience taught me about hard work and responsibility. Raising and caring for a steer was my project at Burbank for one whole year. When you’re working with animals, it’s like having a kid. You feed them early morning and groom them and literally care for them 24/7.
Q: Why did you go into law enforcement and not ranching?
A: As I said, when I got to Burbank, I wanted to be a rancher. But there was a good friend of mine at Burbank whose dad was a sergeant with SAPD. His dad would tell stories about his work, and I loved listening. Since the ninth grade I decided I wanted to be a policeman. Just like following my dad into the Marines, which I did when I graduated from high school, I wanted to do what my friend’s dad was doing.
Q: Tell us about your path from the Marine Corps to law enforcement.
A: I graduated from Burbank in 1970 and went right into the Marine Corps Reserves in San Antonio. I call it my senior trip. In 1973 after three years in the Reserves, I joined the Windcrest Police Department as a police officer. Back then there were no training academies. You learned about policing on the job. I had learned to shoot growing up. They gave you a badge and a uniform, and you had to supply your own weapon. There were no portable radios. No computers. I left Windcrest in the late ‘70s and became a state arson investigator. They sent me to the Texas A&M Fire Academy. There were only five of us in the whole state working as arson investigators.
Q: You were with SAPD before coming to Terrell Hills?
A: That’s true. In 1985 I joined the SAPD cadet class. I was 32 years old. They called me the “old man.” After graduation I spent 18 months on patrol and then went to the SAPD/DEA Task Force, for five years. From the Task Force I went to the special operations unit and then to community relations. I also was an instructor in the police academy. From the Academy I went to the chief’s office.
Q: Why do you call being chief your dream job, a fairy tale?
A: I always wanted to be a chief. It is in part why I went to the national FBI Academy and earned a degree in criminal justice from Wayland College. You could not have written a script at the end of someone’s career like this. The staff I have — the city manager, the mayor, the council and the community — it’s been a privilege working with all of them. This is everything I thought it would be in a small town. I enjoy being chief. Community has welcomed me. I’d encourage youngsters to consider law enforcement as a career.
Q: So why retire?
A: I’ve been working since I was 11. It’s time to enjoy life. My wife has also worked for many, many years, since she was in high school. I’ll play a little golf. And we’ll spend time with our grandchildren.
