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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True®
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In the Line of Duty
The county I'm in is pretty small, population-wise: about 4,100 people. (Geography-wise, it's medium for the west: about 550 square miles.) As you might guess, there's not much shopping in my county, so for groceries we pop into Montrose, which is a town of about 16,000, and is only 20 minutes away. (Montrose County has a population of around 34,000 in 2,240 square miles.) So we know the town pretty well.
Weekly Weird News
Saturday evening I became aware that "something" was happening in Montrose. I have "police" radios in my house for our county, but not for Montrose; that one is in my car. So I went to the garage and grabbed my portable and turned it on, but clearly the main action was over, so I had to wait until later to find out what happened. I knew it was bad: two ambulances had been dispatched, county deputies were in to back up the police, and even one of our ambulances helped cover their calls. I resisted the urge to call our crew to find out details; I could wait.
I found out soon enough. A domestic violence call, at an address the police were quite familiar with, had suddenly turned sour. Officers had apparently been there for over an hour when the man of the house suddenly ran, and then shots rang out. Three cops were hit, one fatally, and the homeowner was left dead too; it's unclear so far whether he was killed by return fire, or if he shot himself. (Update: he shot himself.)
It's the second time a Montrose cop has been killed. The previous time was in 1983, when three cops were shot, one fatally. Weird.
I know some of the sheriff's deputies in Montrose County, but few (any?) of the city cops. Sgt. David Kinterknecht, who was born and raised here, was only 41. He wanted to be a cop all of his life; like me, he started out as a police cadet. Unlike me, he stayed in the business. He had two daughters, aged 12 and 16. Officers Rodney Ragsdale, 55, and Larry Witte, 23, who were both shotgunned in the legs, will survive.
Domestic violence calls are notoriously risky for cops, even in small towns, but they go in anyway and try to make peace. Sometimes the people they're trying to help don't want peace. The homeowner in this case had been disfigured in a fire, and was reportedly depressed. Rather than seek help, he spread his misery to others. I'm sure he has a family too, and their memories of him will forever be tinged with tragedy and shame. Had he thought about it, rather than let anger take him over, it could have been very different. Unfortunately for four families in a very small town, it went the wrong way.
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Posted by Jim, Houston, TX on August 2, 2009:
From '69 until '72, I was the C.O. of an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal ("Bomb Disposal") Detachment. At that time, it was only the larger cities that had police Bomb Squads (and none in my Area of Operations), so we got called on to respond to calls from Civil War Ordnance to suspected homemade bombs (or IEDs as they're called today), as well as to teach classes to local, state and Federal law enforcement agencies on IED recognition and Bomb Scene Search & Investigation.
More than once I had the experience of a seasoned LEO call us "heroes" for dealing with homemade bombs, and every time I'd say, "Officer (Sergeant/Lieutenant/Captain/Agent), a bomb is designed to do one thing - blow up and kill people. As long as we remember that and treat the device with respect, we're in pretty good shape. And if we have to detonate the device in place rather than trying to disarm it or move it, the media doesn't try to second-guess us.... Don't call us heroes! You people in law enforcement are the real heroes! Bombs are predictable. People aren't, and I wouldn't have your job for all the rice in China!"
My heart goes out to each and every law enforcement officer who lays down his or her life "To Protect and Defend," and to their families.
Posted by Anne, Colorado on August 3, 2009:
This may be just me, but it really bothers me when Officers of the Law are referred to as "cops." This seems to lack the respect they have earned and deserve. To me, it feels just one step above "pigs." Just my opinion.
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You might think so, and no one is asking you to use the term, but you should ask your local cop -- er, Peace Officer -- what s/he thinks. I've never met one that was bothered by it, but virtually all use it and find it fine. That, I think, is the real test. And remember: I used to be one. -rc
Posted by Jeralie, Oklahoma City, OK on August 4, 2009:
I believe the term Cops, comes from Copper. The police officers had copper buttons on their uniforms. Thus, they were called coppers, which was shortened to cops. I don't believe it was ever a derogatory name.