Peace Officers Memorial Day was observed Wednesday by the McPherson Police Department with two ceremonies At a morning at McPherson Cemetery it honored the two McPherson officers who died in the line of duty – Night Chief Charles Bruce, who was shot and killed while responding to a burglary at a South Main gas station in 1933, and Night Chief Martin Grant who suffered a fatal heart attack after struggling with and arresting an intoxicated person at a downtown cafe.
They were also honored during an evening program at the Community Building, at which the keynote speaker was Diana Cole, the on-duty dispatcher in Greenwood County on January 19th, 2005, when Sheriff Matt Samuels was killed in the line of duty while attempting to apprehend a man wanted on weapons violations.
Cole related how January 19th started out as any other day, Sheriff Matt Samuels telling her he was going to rural location in northern Greenwood County, some 30-40 minutes from Eureka on a tip regarding the whereabouts of a person who was shot and killed in the line of duty. Before heading out, he did his daily ritual of going to a local truck stop to grab some tea and visit with people there. Another officer had gone with Cheevers to that location.
“The next thing I knew,” Cole said, “I got a call from another deputy they had called to go with him, and he told me officer down, officer down, get us some help.” It fell on her and the chief dispatcher/office manager to call in all available assistance, both locally and from the KBI and Kansas Highway Patrol. “Between the time he was shot and the time everybody showed up to relieve us so we could deal with what we were dealing with, I had to keep my composure, continue to answer the phones and 911, and deal with people who came in,” she said.
Another speaker Wednesday evening was Toya Bulla, treasurer of the Kansas Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors, also known as COPS. This organization works with and on behalf of the families and also co-workers of law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty. Bulla’s father, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ferdinand “Bud” Pribbenow was slain in the line of duty in 1981,
She told Ad Astra News they coordinate their work with the agency the slain officer was associated with, as they know the family and what they need. “We’re there with the family for the rest of their lives,” Bulla said, adding in some cases, it can be a period of time before support can begin for a variety of reasons as they work through the loss of a loved one.
This includes introducing them who have been through similar, though maybe not exact circumstances. She said “That peer support can be invaluable, I know, because I never thought anyone around me understood what I was going through until I met a child of another officer who was killed in the line of duty, and having that peer support “
This support is also offered to the colleagues of the officer, including people such as emergency communications personnel like Cole.
The ceremony also included remarks from Police Chief Mikel Golden, who is also president of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, which included an “Empty Table” ceremony honoring Night Chiefs Bruce and Grant, similar to what is seen in many veterans’ organizations to remember military personnel killed or missing in action.
Other speakers included Assistant Police Chief Todd Martens, who shared some of the biblical aspects of law enforcement, and police Chaplain Dean Kroeker who gave a closing prayer prior to the bagpipe playing of Amazing Grace.
