Chapter Seven....Officer down.

When you are in law enforcement, most of your friends are in law enforcement as well. Even friends you had before you were a cop. Certain personalities tend to attract like minded people for friendship. My best friend from high school on was a guy named Shane McDonald. I had been a police officer for about 5 years when Shane decided he was going to move to Portland Oregon to pursue a career in law enforcement as well. He had been gone now for a couple of years, but we still remained friends. I had flown out there a couple times, and he had flown back to Springfield a couple time. Well tonight he was back, and doing a ride-along with me during my shift at work.

It was late September, 1998 in the early evening. The evening air had a crisp quality about it that suggested fall wasn't too far off. It had been a busy shift, as this was a Friday evening, but Shane and I had been doing a lot of catching up. I am on the very north end of the city limits on 65 HWY when I hear another officer in a two man car call out 10-37 at the Center Park. 10-37 means officer needs assistance. A few seconds go by and an officer energized by adrenaline comes over the radio stating that there is a man down covered with blood near the boat ramps, with an hysterical woman ( later id'd as his wife) standing over him and screaming. I hear other cars come over the radio, including the watch commander ( Lt. Cole ) stating that they are en route to assist. Even though there several other units on the way I decide I will start to it as well. My spidey sense is telling something is out of the ordinary. I turn on my lights and sirens, do a U-turn in across the median, and I am soon cruising at about 100 MPH. Even at this speed it is going to to take at least 5 minutes to get to the area, giving Shane and I time to discuss the call. After a couple minutes a very panicky sounding officer comes over the radio again. I recognize his voice as one of the newer officer, and you can hear his voice cracking as he speaks. He states "301 is down, 301 is down".....well this dramatically changes everything about the response to the call, as well as my own adrenaline dump. 301 is the assigned radio number of the Chief of police for my department. The "hysterical" woman is his wife Susan, whom always bakes cakes for the officers for there birthdays, retirements etc, etc. These people are not the strangers that we have been taught to remain antiseptic towards, and stoic. These people were part of our family, the brotherhood of blue........30 seconds goes by and the new Officer comes over the radio saying that another officer is doing CPR on 301. In the back ground I can hear a lot of unorganized commotion.

If there is one ability that defines me it is this. I react VERY well under pressure. I am able to make decisive actions that are usually right. I am able to see the bigger picture and make sure we have the resources available for what ever task we face. I wait impatiently for about 30 seconds for a Sergeant, or the Lieutenant to start giving commands. After nothing but radio silence I do what I do. I act. I radio dispatch and tell them to start a medical Helicopter. I tell dispatch, per my authority ( which I had none, but people tend to listen when you act like you know what your doing) to go ahead and have the 2200 hours patrol watch come on duty ASAP. I instruct them to have the police chaplain called in, and our public relations officer. Not bad for 5 minutes in a flying police car.

Upon arrival I see the most unorganized mess of a critical incident you can imagine. I notice several patrol cars with there doors left open. A couple county guys are present too. knowing we are going to need an LZ for the helo which is 5 minutes out, I have the two county guys, and my friend Shane ( dressed in shorts, and a t-shirt) start moving patrol cars onto a nearby softball field ( game in progress). I run to where the Chief is. His wife is in a spasm of suffering with two officers trying to comfort her. 3 or 4 officers are standing around in shock, and two are fumbling about trying to do CPR. The Officer giving chest compressions is doing OK, but the officer giving mouth to mouth is freaked out, and understandably as he has been friends with the Chief for a decade, and had not yet given a single successful breath, as he was using a defective mouth piece. I push Olin aside and tell him I will take over. I throw the mouth piece away, sweep the mouth, remove his false teeth, and begin CPR. To get the entire picture you should know this. Besides the regular fluids one may have in their mouth, bile and stomach contents often get forced into the mouth during the compressions, and not to mention that when the chief fell, his lip had been busted, and with every chest compression was bleeding. Through all of this I did what I was taught to do. one point during this the Chief did make some noises, and his eyes rolled back into his head. Paramedics soon took over, the helo arrived and he was life Flighted to the ER at St. Johns hospital. Two other officers took the Chiefs wife by patrol car, running code all of the way, actually beating the helicopter to the hospital!

After the helo left I was left with a mouth that tasted of ass ( not that I know what ass taste like). I needed to wash my mouth out. The only thing I could find in my patrol car to do that with was a bottle of saline fluid from the first aid kit.......better than nothing.

I returned to the station to await the results, but there is no rest for the weary. Over the next 6 hours ( me working 3 hours late) I alone was dispatched to 15 calls. It was one of the busiest nights I have ever spent in law enforcement. Not one those nights where the calls are past stealing, or barking dogs. These were assaults in progress, assault on officers, shots fired....you name it. But at the end of my shift I learned the sad news. Chief Steve Marler had passed away. He was 55 years old, and had been concealing the fact that he had been having heart trouble for sometime.

I had to attend a mandatory debrief, and an offer to see a psychologist, which of course I refused.

Over the next 24 hours I got very little sleep, we, meaning the police department, had a funeral to plan.

The funeral was a very respectful end for a person that had dedicated 34 years as a police officer. Over 1000 police officers attended the funeral, from as far away as Cape Canaveral Florida.

The part that touched me most during the service was when one of his sons spoke. his son was about 30 years old, and simply said in front of a giant crowd, as he began to cry, " I miss my Dad. I love you Daddy." I cant say if there was a dry eye in the crowd or not, because my eyes were to filled with tears to see.


Here is the Policeman's Prayer.

"The Final Inspection"

The policeman stood and faced his God,Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining. Just as brightly as his brass.
"Step forward now, policeman.How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other
cheek? To My church have you been true?"
The policeman squared his shoulders and said,"No, Lord, I guess I ain't, Because those of us who
carry badges can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays, and at times my talk was rough, and sometimes I've been
violent, Because the streets are awfully tough.
But I never took a penny, That wasn't mine to keep....Though I worked a lot of overtime When
the bills just got too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help, Though at times I shook with fear. And sometimes, God
forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place Among the people here. They never wanted me around Except to
calm their fear.
If you've a place for me here, Lord, It needn't be so grand. I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't.....I'll understand.
There was silence all around the throne Where the saints had often trod. As the policeman
waited quietly, For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, policeman, You've borne your burdens well. Come walk a beat on Heaven's
streets, You've done your time in hell."

Author Unknown