Today Walter Mulligan is remembered as the crooked Vancouver police chief who took bribes from bookies and gamblers.

But until his fall in 1955 he was a respected member of society, Vancouver’s longest-serving police chief. Newspapers reported his opinions like he was a sage of law and order, even if they were controversial.

On Oct. 19, 1954 Mulligan stepped into a debate about corporal punishment.

“The birch or a good caning would do about 150 Vancouver boys a lot of good, Police Chief Walter Mulligan feels,” related a Vancouver Province story.

“’I must say that there are many of us in the police force who feel there are other effective forms of punishment than the lash,’ (Mulligan) said.

“But we would not like to see corporal punishment wholly abolished … for we have found it to be

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