Mourning a Hero

The past few days have been a little rough. Since I was relegated to light duty, I spent my last 3 days of work up in Master Control. The most strenuous thing to do up there is push a button or turn a knob. It's not the most stimulating duty station in the jail, but essential nonetheless, and it's ideal if you're injured. At about 10:45 pm on my second night in exile (Friday), South Bend PD put out a call of a shooting. Several minutes later, a dispatcher came on the air and said it was an SOS officer that had been shot. Even though I don't really know anyone on SOS, my stomach wrenched. When cops are killed in the line of duty, it's horrible. I don't know if it's explainable to anyone not a part of the "Thin Blue Line", but there's an amazing empathetic reaction even when you don't know the officer who died. There's a small voice in your head telling you that it could have been you; it could have been your husband, your friend, or a member of your family. Through random chance or God's master plan, it happened to someone else, but you know it could have just as easily happened to you or your loved ones.

I listened as South Bend officers rushed to the scene, set up a perimeter, and administered CPR to the fallen officer. When I heard that they were performing CPR, all I could think was, "Oh shit, he's not going to make it." And he didn't. About 30 hours later, after undergoing emergency surgery and sustaining 2 strokes, Corporal Scott Severns died.

Tonight South Bend PD had a memorial procession for Cpl. Severns. Neither Shayne nor I really knew Severns, but we had both met him and had spoken with him a few times. But even if we hadn't known him, we would have attended. I'm not sure how many squad cars were in the procession, but it stretched for at least a mile (and quite probably more). People of all ages lined the streets waving flags, holding candles, and standing by homemade signs. It was a moving reminder that not all citizens hate the cops, that society as a whole is comprised of good and decent people. It's easy to forget when you deal mostly with the 5% who can't get it together...

Here are a few photos I took from the staging area and during the procession. I regret that they didn't turn out better, but I only had my little point-and-shoot digital camera, and some of the pics were taken with the camera out the window of a moving squad car.

May God bless Cpl. Scott Severns and all the police, firefighters, and military personell who are willing to make the supreme sacrifice to help, serve, and protect others. Your actions will not be forgotten.