Chief Patton as he appears in the Dick Tracy comic strip
Pat Patton is a character who appears in the Dick Tracy comic strip. He is the chief of the police department in Dick Tracy's City, and is the direct supervisor of detective Dick Tracy and Tracy's co-workers in the Major Crimes Unit.
Role in the Dick Tracy comic strip[]
Early on in Patton's career, he was a beat cop in Central City, during which time Lafayette Austin was one of his informants. At some point, he relocated to Dick Tracy's city and eventually became chief of police. When gangster Cyrus Topper travels from Central City to Tracy's city, newspaper publisher Britt Reid, who is secretly the masked vigilante the Green Hornet, tips off Patton about Topper's move. Patton later introduces Dick Tracy to Britt. Around this time, Lafayette Austin also returns to Tracy's city and reconnects with Patton. Austin uses his criminal contacts to learn about Topper's activities, then passes the information on to Patton. This allows the Major Crimes Unit detectives to intercept several of Topper's planned crimes, although it also puts them into conflict with the Green Hornet and his partner Kato.