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I feel for you brother. Take care and stay safe!

We lost 2 of our own in a very short span of only 7 months..one was a friend. CO Jeffrey Wroten was shot in the face with his own handgun by an inmate taken on a hospital run in Hagerstown Md. in Jan 2006. It seems to have been a planned attack on any officer that drew the run and he happened to have the duty that night. He left behind young children and a wife, and many friends who admired him and the job he did. Gangland violence, the inmate got life for the murder on top of his sentence.
In July the same year David McGuinn who had been posted outside the institution because of threats on his life in Jessup Md. was brought in and placed on the tiers in the same trouble spot of the MHC. He was conducting a security count when he was attacked and stabbed to death by 2 inmates, he managed to escape them and lock the grill behind him saving other officers. I will miss his smile and his dedication to his job. The state has since closed down that facility due to safety concerns. These are but a few of the attacks on officers over the last few years serving in the prison systems in our state. Many stabbings and assaults have followed to officers behind the walls, but these 2 men left behind familys and children in the performance of thier jobs and in the line of duty, and paid the ultimate price and thier names are on the wall. I will never forget them.

We all hate to lose a brother or sister due to violence on the job, but my friend lost his life to cancer, he put in 20 plus years on the job and refused to pass on till his best friend told him that he could, that he would take over now. He suffered till the end, but refused to quit trying to protect all of us, till his last breath. His greatest pleasure was his job and his wife.

BRUCE KENNERLY, My Friend

A friend of mine has passed away
But his memory is here to stay
He was a man built of kindness and love
He will influence our lives now from above
He lived his life in search of his mate
And he knew for sure his wife was worth the wait
He shared himself with all he knew
His friendship and trust just grew and grew
For any who knew him could never forget
The friend they had just met
He wore a badge and tried to do right
But he knew his job was an endless fight
He worked many hours both day and night
Saw things that would fill most with fright
But down deep in his big heart
He knew with his badge he could never part
Now he has gone to a place where peace abounds
And he will still wear his badge as if a crown
For Bruce will forever make friends and keep the peace
As on earth, now in heaven the number of strangers will decrease
Because Bruce’s love and kindness will only grow
And his true goodness can finally show
Bruce Kennerly will never go away
For he touched so many lives that his memory will stay
About my friend I could write pages and pages
But to know Bruce will last throughout the ages
As Bruce is carried through the people that love him
His devotion and kindness will never dim
Cancer took Bruce beyond to his end
But his faith stayed strong as he tried to mend
Bruce fought his last fight without a badge or gun
And a place in Heaven with no pain is what he’s won
To be like Bruce is every person’s dream
As Bruce will forever be part of the Sheriff’s team.

Ron Lambert
08202006

On December 12th John will have been gone for ten years. It does not hurt any less.

God Bless you all be there for each other.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/17293-sergeant-george-a.-(andy)-brown-iii
It's 2 days away from being 4yrs ago that we lost Andy. He was, simply put, what a Trooper should be! When I made Sgt. his fiance gave me his Sgt. badge. Its the same badge he was wearing the day he was killed. I could never be more proud to wear something than this badge!

SORRY ABOUT YOUR LOSS,, MY PRAYERS WITH YOU AND YOURS!!!

Just want to say how very sorry I for your losses......It's been almost 18 years since my husband, Sgt. John Blaser, age ;36, EOW 8-31-90, was killed.  It doesn't really matter how many years it's been since the loss.....the sadness is always with you....

One issue I remember being concerned about , after John was killed, was his co-worker friends, they were struggling so with their grief...back then the department did some outreach, but not much.  However, as the years have gone by they are doing an excellent job assisting the co-worker survivor.   During Police Week and during the Concerns of Police Survivors Conference, they hold support groups for co-workers survivors.  It appears as the years go by,  there are more and more co-worker survivors who attend these groups.  I think it's much more accepted that it's okay to do so....and  because many are away from their own state and or agency and the enviiroment  is safe and confidential.  These groups are facitated by other co-worker survivors, so they know where people are coming from.....I encourage anyone, no matter how many years it's been since your lose,  to check out the C.O.P.S Conference Support Groups, if you happen to be at Police Week.

Take Care and know there is allot of support out there for our wonderful co-worker survivors !  

I've lost 5 friends/co-workers.  1989 - Lt. Eugene Young, OK Dept. of Corrections, heart attack while taking a P&P violator into custody; 1992 - Agent II Paul Eirwin, OK ABLE (alcohol) Commission, car accident while on duty; 1994 - Agent II Lori Thomas, OK ABLE Commission, killed on duty due to vehicular assault (when a felon fleeing other law enforcement hit her car); 1995 - Sr. Agent Claude Medearis, US Treasury - Customs, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in OKC; 1995 - Sgt. Charles Nichols, Coweta, OK PD, car accident while responding to a call.  I've lost many other former law enforcement co-workers and friends in recent years due to officer suicide, cancer, etc.  None of the deaths have been easy to take.   Anniversary dates come and go and  I just miss them all the more.

I have lost several over my 30 year career.  I will mention but one today.  My squad brother Chris Hylton in 1996.  We both commuted to work from one of Orlando, Florida's bedroom communities...about 35 mile to our sub-station.  On my way to work I was detoured from my regular rout by the local law enforcement.  Upon arriving at work I find out that the wreck I was detoured around was that of my squad brother Chris.  I was told that he had been hit head on by a drunk driver and that his older model Volks Wagon bug had burst into flames and he was dead at the scene.  He left a wife and two teenage girls.

My heart goes out for your loss and my prayers are with you and his family

IM WITH THE STATE HONOR GUARD IN ALABAMA. I'VE DONE ALOT OF FUNERAL'S FOR OFFICERS OVER THE YEARS. ON MONDAY WE HAVE TO LAY ONE IF OUR OWN OFFICERS TO REST. I'VE KNOWN THE OFFICER AND HIS FAMILEY FOR YEARS. YOU TO THE JOB THE BEST WAY THAT YOU CAN,BUT WHEN IT 'S A OFFICER YOU POLICED WITH FOR YEARS ITS REALLY HARD.  i HAVE ONE FRIEND ON THE WALL NOW . I GO TO WASHINGTON D.C. EVERY YEAR AND I GO TO HIS NAME EVERY TIME. IVE DONE ALOT OF PRAYING OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS. I KNOW IF I PUT IN GOD HANDS EVERY THING WILL BE FINE. PLEASE THINK OF US AND PRAY FOR OUR COUNTY AND STATE HAS WE DEALWITH THIS.    YOU CANT STOP A HERO . ILOVE AND WILL MISS YOU GREG.