Rebecca, need your opinion on memorial page.....

[TC]

Let me know what you think. I found two poems that I REALLY liked, so I used BOTH! http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif
http://www.ci.farmers-branch.tx.us/police/memorial.htm

[Rebecca]

TC...I think the poems are beautiful and I really like the way the picture is set up... it's very tasteful and touching.

I'd like to ask you this, though...

Was Officer Tribble the only Officer to die in your Agency? Is it that his death is the only unsolved murder and/or death?

I would suggest that if there are any others, that somehow they be mentioned on this page...since it is a memorial within the Agencies own homepage.

Let me explain for a minute what got me going on all of this (I'll skip some stuff to keep it brief)...

It all began with visiting our Sheriff's Office homepage and looking at the memorial there... I was struck by the faces, but mostly the eyes. What I noticed as I reached the 3rd Deputy killed in this county was the one line the SO gave to his memory:

"Deputy Gassman was slain while serving a warrant on a perpetrator who was a fugitive for the crime of assault."

I read that line, looked back at his picture and into his eyes...and then looked at the dates they had next to his picture. It was his beginning and ending dates with the SO. This man had been a Deputy in our county for nine years. Nine years was the longest any of our lost had served...and only one line?

So, I've checked further into it. Not only was it nine years...but also, 11 stabs wounds later... and through all of the articles I ever found on Joe Gassman... that one line has been the only quote they have ever given in his name. They gave details of what happened, but the SO has never been quoted with even bothering to say they would miss him.

This just really got to me. Maybe it shouldn't have, but it did. Other memorials state only a name and date of birth and death and I don't find that insulting at all. In fact, it is extremely tasteful if that is how you have your page set up. But if statements are going to be made...say something. If only one line, why this one? What about making it one line that says, "Deputy Joe was a really dedicated cop who so loved his family, gave so much to his church and believed so passionately about serving his community" ... this would have, at least, said something about Joe.

Then, through my research, I find the Deputy who died just two years ago (God, I can't believe I forgot about him, myself,) and he isn't even on the memorial page at all. The whole thing just makes me feel like these Deputies didn't seem to matter very much... and that maybe the memorial page is there only out of a need to have one. Then, I decided to visit the City homepage and found they have not even put a memorial on their page. Everything else is there, except their 12 fallen men. How can they overlook their fallen men?

Ok, ok, ok...I am about to get really carried away and I don't want to do that, so back to your page. If there are any other men or women downed, TC...someone within your community who knew and loved any of them could visit the page and be very hurt by the Agency "forgetting" all of the others. If you are doing this because Officer Tribble's murder is still unsolved, then I would suggest saying a little something to bring that subject up that explains why he is your focus...while you still show that it is important to remember the others.

Otherwise...if there are no other losses, I would say that you've placed a decent memorial to this man as far as the layout goes and would only add to it by bringing in a little personal information about him to show the "human being behind the badge" that we lost when we lost him.

Does any of this make sense? Or, do I sound like I am going over board? I do get carried away because I am so very passionate about this "subject" ...and I wonder at times if I might sound just plain silly.

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***Rebecca***

[This message has been edited by Rebecca (edited 04-28-2000).]

[TC]

Would you believe that he's our only one in HISTORY??? Our city is the city that created Dallas. It was called Peters Colony way back when and residents of Peters Colony later founded Dallas. Amazing, huh? Especially considering all the Dallas officers that have died. We've been very fortunate over the years.

The story of Officer Tribble is truly a very sad one. His wife was the manager of an apartment complex. She called the PD and asked the dispatcher to have Tribble drop by the grocery store to pick up a prescription for their sick baby. I don't recall what time this was, but it was pretty late at night. He dropped off the medicine and spent a few minutes with his baby before leaving. A few minutes later his wife hears multiple shots fired and calls the police. Officers arrive to find Officer Tribble in his patrol car, crashed in the bottom of a culvert that runs behind the apartments. He was dead of a single gunshot wound to the head. The best they've been able to piece the story together is that when he drove off from his apartment, he saw something. Something that made his 6th sense tingle because he pulled out his pistol and put it on his lap. Someone then fired multiple shots at the patrol car. Tribble got off a few rounds, but they went into the roof of the apartment building. This indicated that he fired as he was falling back into the car. This is when he took the round to the face. As soon as he was shot, his foot came off the brake and his car went into the culvert. To this day we have no clue who did it.

[This message has been edited by TC (edited 04-28-2000).]

[Rebecca]

TC...very sad, my friend.

Remembering this man is the right thing to do for your Agency because it shows his loss means so much. I'm also happy to hear there are no others. With that fact, the only suggestion I could make to you is to gather up some details about his life... to add to those you have about his death... and bring some of this forward to add to his tribute.

Maybe it's just me...but when you only put a DOB and a DOD on a memorial, especially on the smaller scale ones...you miss the chance to show the public the man, himself. It's one thing to the public to "just lose a cop"...it's another thing when you show what a real person that cop was and how he had a life outside of that uniform.

The public never seems to think of cops that way. If you can touch their spirit by making them feel for those who are gone...it might change the way they view those who are still here with us.

http://www.officer.com/ubb/smile.gif



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***Rebecca***

[This message has been edited by Rebecca (edited 04-28-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Rebecca (edited 04-28-2000).]

[Rebecca]

Hey TC...

I've been thinking about this a lot lately... and I hope you will consider that the details of the man's death might be beneficial to display on the page. Someone in the community who would not come forward back then may just come forward now. Or... perhaps someone has "heard" something over the course of time and seeing this memorial may bring them to come forward.

It's hard to imagine that someone--somewhere, hasn't bragged about this...as sick as that sounds. If you put out the exact details...who knows...this may be a way to open the door to clues out there.

[TC]

Ok, got with the LT on this one. We are going to have to have a meeting with the Chief to determine exactly what information we can release to the public since it's an open investigation. http://www.officer.com/ubb/frown.gif

[Rebecca]

That's understandable, too. I just hope that after almost 17 years that they decide to let most of the info become public so that maybe someone will come forward. You know, maybe it is something that they would consider bringing back up in your local paper, too. It's just a thought, but you might want to consider putting that thought out there on the table. For anyone who may have a clue...it might be considered that since no one has mentioned this man's death after 17 years that maybe it has just been swept under the rug. If the Agency let's it be known that they are just as interested in catching this cop killer today as they were 17 years ago...well, you never know, TC.

You may be just the guy to get the ball rolling again to help bring justice forth for Officer Tribble. He deserves to have someone come along after all this time who will make that effort.

Who better than 1999's Officer of the Year? http://www.officer.com/ubb/wink.gif