John H. Shupe

John Shupe was the BEST COP I ever worked with or around....

I remember one night John had a Trainee working with him. John put out an assistance call, unusual for John. Joe Pugliese and I rolled Code three to South El Monte. When we got there Shupe was standing at the front of his radio car smoking a cigarette and shaking his head. John appeared upset which is unusual for a man who possessed nerves of steel. We walked up to John and asked him, "whats up?" Shupe said you...

I guess it's that time in one's life when they must unfortunately experience "the passing" of many of the most influential people in thier lives. For me,John Shupe is one of them. He was a silent storm of confidence that demonstrated many of the attributes of confidence, ability and tactical perfection that provided a larger then life foundation on which to build. We workewd together at Central jail in the early 70's and later at Temple Station when I was a Sergeant. We frequented each...

I had the pleasure of working with John as a deputy at Temple Station and then again as sergeants at the Hall of Justice later on. John always went quietly about duties, doing a better job than most anyone else. But you never heard him "blowing his own horn". He let the results speak for themselves. As a supervisor, he quickly earned the respect of the deputies as well as the other sergeants and above. It was plain as day he knew exactly what he was talking about and had the experience...

Back in the 80's at Temple Station, I was a Watch Commander for about five years, mostly on PM/EM Relief and straight EM's for many months at a time. I had ample opportunity to observe John not only as a peer leader, but also as a fine practitioner of the skills, knowledge and craftiness required to be a consistently excellent street cop.
John was awesome. I admired him a lot for his abilities, but more so for his quiet humility. I recall once when a pursuit started up, I hurried up to...

I never had the privlege of working in a patrol car with John, but I usually worked with him on the evening shifts at Temple Station. I can see him now with his green uniform jacket, a cup a joe and a smoke. I remember him saying that he hadn't earned his paycheck until a bad guy went to jail. He was a leader and a team player. I was called to a traffic accident and discovered that a shootout occurred inside the car. I listened to a dying declaration from the victim and John showed up at...

I vividly remember Sgt. Shupe as my first sergeant. It was 1989, just out of the academy, and I was assigned to HOJJ. There was not alot to do on the graveyard shift, so he would drill us. CONSTANTLY!! Had me crawling around on the floor in full turn out gear, with a trashbag covering my mask to simulate smoke, amongst other interesting little drills. We would whine and complain, but little did we know, we were never more prepared for an emergency. He was slowly molding us into...

All of the comments herein about John being an excellent Deputy and mentor are absolutely true. Although quiet of nature, he was also very funny. He once had radiated iodine injected to treat an over active thyroid. He told me it did not hurt, but that he glowed in the dark and could not hug his kids.
It was my pleasure to know him and be a partner.

I remember John best from my first days at the Central Jail. I had all of three days training (or so it seemed) and was given 3600-3800 module as an assignment. One night was particulary loud and suddenly it got quiet on one side of the module. I heard "man walking" and went to the bottom row in the control cage and half way down the row was Deputy John Shupe who was a "prowler" on the floor. He was talking to the inmates in one of the cells. After a couple of minutes he came to the control...

My wife Cheri worked with John at CJ and I teamed up with him at Temple and NORSAT. He along myself and a name way out of past Bud " Campbell Edwards" all arrived at Temple within the same year. We told war stories only fish patrol deputies could think. Time, 30 plus years, have clouded most of my recall. I will not forget John, he was a great Deputy but better human being.