Officer recounts Dallas trip

The July 7 killing in Dallas of five officers and the wounding of seven others at a protest against police killings was “terrifying and a ‘game changer,’” Elton wrote. “I knew I had to do something to show my support.”

He and three other city officers, Josh Jones, Amanda Rosier and Joe Lick, self-funded — with help from fellow officers — a trip to Dallas.

“It was the most amazing experience I have ever had as a police officer,” he wrote. “It was humbling and emotional.”

He wrote, “We all shed tears while there, we all hugged fellow officers from across the nation, told them to be safe and ‘Watch their six [back].’ We all hugged citizens from Dallas and felt their pain and were told how much we were appreciated. If only it didn’t take a tragedy for that to happen and I hope these heroes’ lives were not lost in vain.”

The officers later “felt bad about ‘Stolen Honor’ because I think we were mistaken for Dallas officers because of the similarity in the names, even after saying we were from Oregon,” Elton wrote.

One Dallas officer looked at Jones’s patch and asked if the department’s patches had been changed.

Once people realized the officers came from a department with only 23 sworn officers, “many people were amazed that four of us were in attendance,” Elton wrote.

Things also got tense at one point.

On Friday, the four were at police headquarters after attending the funeral of Officer Michael Krol. They shook hands with other officers and citizens, posed for countless pictures, got thanked “more times than I can count,” and told local officers to be safe, Elton wrote.

They planned to spend more time there but were told another protest was being planned “and we may want to vacate the area because we were making ourselves targets being in uniform.”

Lick said, “I’ve never been so nervous walking around in uniform.’”

The others agreed.

When they arrived at their hotel Wednesday night, they received the first of many gestures of gratitude.

They learned only one room was booked instead of the expected two.

The desk clerk, after asking if they were officers there for the funerals, gave them the hotel’s last available room, a king suite, at a deep discount.

He told the grateful officers, “you’re here showing the love and I’m going to show the love back.”

On Thursday, they attended the funeral of Sgt. Michael Smith, sitting in an overflow room and watching the “impressive and emotional” service on a giant screen, Elton wrote.

The church was huge, he wrote, and thousands of officers from across the nation attended. But that was Texas, and Elton was told there were far larger churches than that one.

Afterward they were invited by the Dallas Police Association to attend a catered luncheon.

There, Elton met a Dallas police officer who was just a block away when the shooting started. “I heard a first-hand account of what transpired and the heroic actions of all the officers involved.

“I forged what will most likely be a lifelong friendship with that officer and we have already communicated since returning home.”

He also gave a TDPD patch to a young boy, who hugged him and told him his dad was a Dallas police officer.

After the luncheon they drove downtown to the Dallas police headquarters to view the memorial. Two Dallas police cars “were completely covered with flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, cards and patches from other law enforcement agencies.

Jones gave a TDPD patch to a Dallas officer who placed it on the memorial.

Elton took a few moments and knelt down and said a prayer for the officers who were killed. “I’m not ashamed to say it was very emotional,” he wrote.

They then drove by the scene of the shootings “and saw the bullet holes in the building and pillars where DART Officer Brent Thompson was shot and killed. Reality really set in when we saw the incident scene.”

Friday was Krol’s service – “another impressive church and another emotional service,” Elton wrote — and then they went back to Dallas for another catered luncheon by the Dallas Police Association.

They went to Fort Worth for a viewing of Officer Patrick Zamarripa, since they could not attend his funeral Saturday.

At a short service, Zamarripa was posthumously promoted to E6 by the U.S. Navy. “After a salute, each officer in attendance walked by his family and told them what an honor it was to be there. To look into the eyes of his family and have them thank us for being there was gut wrenching.”

Elton has had the privilege, he wrote, to attend memorial services for fallen Oregon officers over the years, “most recently for Officer Jason Goodding in Seaside, whom I personally knew.”

“This trip was very special though and everything came together quickly. None of us blinked an eye when we were told we would have to cover some of our expenses. It was too important.

“These officers made the ultimate sacrifice. We all felt we needed to be there to show our support to the families, the Dallas Police Department, the city of Dallas and the state of Texas.”

Elton recounted how a Maryland officer who was staying at the same hotel said, “This is one of the only jobs where you can sit down with another officer from the other side of the country and immediately connect with them.It’s like you’ve known each other for your entire life even though you are complete strangers.

“We are truly a family; a family who stands side by side, never wavers, never backs down and loves and supports each other, especially during a tragedy.”