It is always sad to hear of the death of a police officer. It is particularly difficult when it is one of our own. We think of cop killings as something that happen in New York City, not Georgetown, Ind.
The thought of someone killing a police officer goes against our middle class sense of order. When a policeman dies, the way Frank Denzinger did, we feel that the our buffer between good and evil has been breached.
Deputy Denzinger had served the people of Floyd County for four years. I never met him. Like most of us, I have probably seen him in the course of his duties.
Over the next few days his death will be the focus of a tremendous amount of media attention. City officials will give interviews. Television stations will broadcast live from City Hall. Reporters will interview nearly everyone that knew the slain officer.
Later will come the very public funeral. Law enforcement officers , from near and far, in crisp uniforms, will salute their fallen comrade. He will be eulogized ,by a few chosen friends and coworkers, as a good officer and a family man. Big crowds and a long row of carefully polished police cars will take him to his final resting place.
Over the next few weeks, the Sheriffs Department will take a hard look at what happened that Monday afternoon. They will look to see if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy. In all likelihood, they will conclude that the events happened much as we understand them today. Two good cops, serving this community, walked into an ambush. They never had a chance.
A few weeks from now, most everyone involved will settle back into their normal lives. Deputy Denzinger will not be forgotten, but life must go forward. For awhile, our police officers may pause nervously before they answer a call. Then, they will do their job, as they always have done. The officer’s families will wait ,a little more anxiously, for their loved one to come home.
In time, the city will erect a bronze memorial in Deputy Denzinger’s honor. Officers and citizens alike, will pause ,from time to time , to remember a brave young man that died way too young. For most, their lives will return to normal.
Sadly, for a handful of people, particularly his wife and young daughter, life will never again be the same. For a child, Dad is never coming home. There is a loving wife, who will never, in this life, see her husband again. There are parents that must endure a parents worst nightmare. The loss to Frank Denzinger’s family is immeasurable.
I genuinely believe that the vast majority of police officers are good people doing a difficult job. Not that I have not, at times, questioned the actions of the police. Like all professions, there are good and bad. Unfortunately, the bad seem to get the most attention from the press.
However, at the end of the day, I sleep better knowing the quality of people that protect us from harm. Frank Denzinger’s death should serve to remind us all that our safety comes with a price.
From all accounts, Frank Denzinger was a good cop and a good man.
May he rest in peace.
Andrew J Albatys is a Henryville resident. He can be reached via e-mail at douglasslopp@aol.com.
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