On the Personal Side

Unfortunately, news about a police officer's conduct too often deals with instances of brutality, corruption, racism, or a combination of all three. Occasionally, however, an article is printed about a cop of who gets it right. My home town news paper, the MilwaukeeJournal Sentinal had the latter kind of story one day this week.

It seems the officer, barely a week after being promoted to sergeant, was alone in his patrol car when a car passed him at a high rate of speed. He caught up to the car only after it had crashed and burst into flames. The cop couldn't break any windows with his nightstick, so he used his hands to peel back some of the torn metal on the car door to reach in and unlock the door. Once he got the driver out of the burning vehicle, he raced over to the other side and pulled out the passenger just as the backup he had called for arrived. The young cop saved two lives at considerable risk to his own.

I'm always impressed with human bravery, and this kid was clearly a hero. What especially impressed me about this story is that I know the hero. He's my nephew.

Way to go, Dennis.