wife, Tonie, a teacher at Los Alamitos Elementary
School in San Jose, eat it all up.
Now, he uses magic to bond with residents and
leaders of Campbell, which is protected by Finch’s
force of 41 sworn officers and 28 other staff
members.
You will find Finch performing at school assemblies,
community events and even official city meetings,
dazzling people with such classic tricks as
multiplying sponge balls and linking and unlinking
supposedly solid rings of steel.
He also performs while serving as emcee at
such functions as the annual Santa Clara County
Dispatcher of the Year award banquet, held in April.
“In law enforcement, our job is to solve mysteries,”
Finch says. “As a magician, we spend time creating
mysteries.”
Chief Has a Few
Tricks Up His Sleeve
But he’s sawed a woman in half, put back together
a shredded newspaper, and performed thousands
of other illusions and tricks that continue to amaze
colleagues and residents of this Silicon Valley city of
about 40,000.
26
|
Behind The Badge
Finch says he may retire from the Campbell
PD in 2016, after which he plans to become a
professional magician and go on the speaking
circuit to talk about “The Magic of Leadership,”
incorporating illusions and tricks into his
presentation.
Chief Trick. •
Still no word on whether he will perform there
under the nickname he currently uses:
“In law enforcement, our
job is to solve mysteries...
As a magician, we spend
time creating
mysteries.
”
He got into magic after seeing a neighbor perform.
After honing his skills mostly doing parlor tricks
(performing for small audiences), Finch had to put
magic on the back burner for several years because
of school and work. It wasn’t until 2000 when
Finch, who was born in New York but raised in
California since the age of 11, picked up the craft
again in earnest.
He used to drive his three children crazy practicing
at home but now his daughters (19, 16 and 12) and
“In both cases, you have to make clear, good
decisions. There are parallels between how people
view you as the person who makes the decisions
and comes up with the solutions.”
“People’s expectations of a Police Chief are for him
Now 48, Finch has spent his entire 26-year career
as a cop with the Campbel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x?&\??\?Y?[ ??Y\\???H ?\\?]H???H\? ??\??[?????Y??[?? \?\? [[?[?XY?X? ????X???]\???[][?] B??[\?[?X?H?YY??Y??[???[??&]XY?X?[ B?XZ?H?[YH\?\ X\?????\? ??H?YY? K8?'H?[?? ?^\????YY??Y??[????? ?[?? ? L???????