Skip to main content

Police Week 5k

For several years now, we have made it a tradition to support the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) by participating in the Police Week 5k.  The number of family members who participate varies from year to year but I must say that the best year for me was the one that all four of us ran.  Since Youngest is majoring in Police Studies (like his Mama--aaahh), I don't see this tradition coming to an end any time soon.
Each year, the race finishes adjacent to the National Law Enforcement Memorial.  This is a sobering yet fitting reminder of the reason for Police Week. Last year,  I discussed the memorial a bit.  This year I wanted to focus more on the reasons for the memorial and what it represents.
One of the most emotional aspects of participating in the 5k is that each runner is assigned a fallen officer for whom they run.  This year, the Hubster will be running for Deputy Sheriff Robert Leo Britton, Jr. of Smith County Sheriff's Office in Texas. Here is his story direct from the ODMP:


"Deputy Sheriff Robert Britton succumbed to injuries sustained four days earlier when he was attacked by an injured cow while directing traffic around the animal.

He had responded to the scene after a vehicle struck and injured the cow on Farm Road 344. As he directed traffic around the animal it charged him and knocked him into the air. He landed on his head and suffered severe head injuries. The cow continued attacking him until other deputies were able to pull him to safety.

Deputy Britton was transported to East Texas Medical Center where he remained until succumbing to his injuries.

Deputy Britton had served with the Smith County Sheriff's Office for 19 years. He is survived by his two children."
Read more: http://www.odmp.org/officer/20796-deputy-sheriff-robert-leo-britton-jr#ixzz1ueq2irYI

To be perfectly honest, I didn't pay attention to when Deputy Britton ended his watch.  After reading the story, I assumed that his story was an older one.  After all, I work in a more urban setting and we forget the challenges that more rural departments face.  His story certainly doesn't have the "glamour" of a high speed chase or a shootout with bad guys, but it does speak of the dedication and service that so many law enforcement exhibit on a daily basis. It also serves as a sobering reminder that law enforcement must be always vigilant--never knowing where danger may lurk. Deputy Britton's story was not pulled from the annals of the past,  his watch ended on Monday, March 28, 2011.
Deputy Britton and 165 of his fellow officers names were added to the memorial this year. Their life and service will be celebrated this week.
These statistics from the ODMP for 2011
Aircraft accident: 1
Animal related: 1
Assault: 5
Automobile accident: 34
Drowned: 4
Duty related illness: 7
Explosion: 1
Gunfire: 67
Gunfire (Accidental): 5
Heart attack: 11
Heat exhaustion: 1
Motorcycle accident: 5
Stabbed: 2
Struck by vehicle: 4
Training accident: 1
Vehicle pursuit: 4
Vehicular assault: 12
Weather/Natural disaster: 1

Read more: http://www.odmp.org/search/year?year=2011#ixzz1ueuk9pPB

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by my little piece of the web. I look forward to reading what you have to say!

Popular posts from this blog

In Memory of...

I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Washington DC during National Police Week .  While there, the Hubster ran the Police Week 5K and we visited the Law Enforcement Officers Memoria l.  The memorial is a sobering reminder that so many have given all in the pursuit of public safety.  Unfortunately, it was raining so the pictures aren't great, but the rain seemed fitting--almost as if angels were mourning with those gathered there.  The memorial itself is surrounded by a beautiful park setting with trees and seasonal flowers and is composed of two curved marble walls engraved with the names of the more than 19,000 officers who have died. Each of the memorial walls is flanked by a lion protecting its cubs and keeping silent vigil. Seal embedded in center of the memorial plaza It seems that every day a new name is added to the list that will be inscribed just before Police Week begins.  The park and memorial are beautiful and worth a stop if ...
1 comment
Read more

Albemarle County Ordinance Update

A dministrators of false alarm units are often called on to present information to the local government officials.  In preparation for my debut briefing the Supervisors in my county, I visited Albemarle County last week for their  Board of Supervisors meeting .  The Albemarle County Police Department was before the board to present some updates to their false alarm ordinance so it was a good opportunity to witness public reaction.  The great thing about local government is that the public has the opportunity to participate.  Albemarle County and many other counties allow citizens to have their time to air their opinions simply by signing up before the meeting begins.  The number of people who sign up, determines how much time each speaker is given.  For this meeting, there were so many people signed up, that the time limit was reduced to two minutes each. The agenda for each meeting is generally posted in advance but the public commentary doe...
2 comments
Read more

Queen of the Dairy

Did you know that the Dairy Queen Blizzard turned 25 last year?  I remember when the Blizzard was introduced which makes me officially...old.  Anyway, there was no Dairy Queen in the town where I grew up but there was one where my great grandfather lived.  Do you remember when a trip longer than 15 minutes lasted fuh evah?  When I was little, the 65 minute drive to my great grandfather's small town felt like an eternity.  Maybe it felt so long  because  I was hoping for that extremely rare occurrence of a stop at the Dairy Queen.  My parents were teachers  and the budget was always tight, but occasionally we would stop at DQ and we could get a small cone.  We never got to choose--it was always just that small vanilla cone, but it was a treat nonetheless. Once I was able to drive and had a job, those stops at DQ were almost mandatory when I ventured on my own to my grandparents house.  I probably tried something different each time-...
2 comments
Read more