ROGERS — For a split second, the video took my breath away.
There was one of my police officers, someone I have known for years and consider a friend, rolling into Lake Atalanta, shot just below his bullet-resistant vest.
Videos or pictures of incidents like this rarely phase me.
I am not sure why this one did. Yes, I have known Jeff Pollock the entire 12 years of his career, and I heard about him for years before that from his big brother, Marty. Marty was one of the first people I met when I started covering Rogers police. He was a dispatcher and, at the time, reporters talked to dispatchers every time they wanted to see the log. I talked to Marty a lot.
So I have known the brothers Pollock a long, long time. Brother Brad is a sergeant at the Police Department while Marty has gone on to grander things — he is a trooper with the Arkansas State Police.
Authorities said Jeff was checking a car at Lake Atalanta when Lance Duffy pulled out a .357 Magnum and shot Jeff. Duffy drove away; Jeff rolled into the lake firing at the fleeing vehicle.
Duffy later admitted to the shooting on Facebook. He killed himself as Madison County deputies closed in on him.
Jeff will be fine; he was lucky. Slugs the size of .357 Magnum generally cause some serious damage.
My Dad spent most of his adult life as a police officer and firefighter, so I have a place in my heart for the people who climb into those uniforms to protect us every day.
They are not perfect. Some people criticize police officers just because they are in positions of authority, not because they know they did something wrong. This angers me. Criticize all you want if you know they did something wrong. If you don’t, don’t speculate. Too often this nonsense becomes “truth.”
My guess is should these people be in trouble, they are the people who sprain a finger dialing 911 as fast as they can.
• • •
In another law enforcement matter, we lost Lowell’s police chief, Joe Landers, in a motorcycle accident. Joe is another person I knew for years.
No offense meant, but I have never understood the fascination with motorcycles. I understand even less the police officers who ride them. After all, how many wrecks have they worked involving motorcycles? ’Cycles and their operators come out on the short end almost every time.
Our sheriff, Keith Ferguson, rides a motorcycle. He wears a helmet; nonetheless, I was shocked when he told me he had bought one. I asked him how many fatalities involving ’cycles he worked as a state trooper. He had no idea, but had previously told me that when he retired they counted up the fatality accidents he had worked in his career and it was something over 300. Not all of those involved motorcycles, but you can bet there were more than a few that did.
To be honest, if I had seen that many accidents, I wouldn’t ride a motorcycle and I might not drive a car.
Please ride safely. And wear a helmet.
• • •
The city of Rogers lost one of their aldermen to cancer.
Larry Daniel fought the good fight, all the while serving his constituents.
We worked Whitey’s Chicken Cookin’ Crew together. You get to be buddies when you sweat over a barbecue pit together.
We first met when Don Davis was on trial for killing LD’s stepmother. Davis was convicted and is on death row. It’s been more than 20 years, but Davis knows how to play the system.
Over the years, LD became the family point man, fielding questions about the situation, as first one then another execution date came and went.
I sure wish LD had lived long enough to see that execution happen.
That old bromide “the good die young” certainly applies in this case.
• • •
I had to laugh at my colleague Dave Perozek’s May 6 column where he suggested Bentonville might need to change its name to “Bullyville.” This after a City Council meeting where the mayor and some aldermen weren’t very nice to an attorney who was trying to address a matter on the agenda.
A lot of people in Bentonville have always been full of themselves because the “world’s largest retailer” calls the city home.
But I am certain Sam Walton never thought that was reason enough to jettison common courtesy.
Perhaps Bentonville officials should remember that.
Leeanna Walker is editor for the Rogers Morning News. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NWALeeanna.