Last week, 28-year-old Craig Taylor received a huge surprise from the Galion Police Department when he was sworn in as an honorary officer, fulfilling a lifelong dream that otherwise may not have come true due to his terminal cancer diagnosis. On Wednesday afternoon, Taylor was surprised yet again when representatives from every law enforcement agency in Richland County showed up on his front porch.
Officers from police departments in Mansfield, Plymouth, Butler, Bellville, Shelby, the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and the Mansfield SWAT team, to name a few, stood at attention on a rainy afternoon simply to personally congratulate Taylor on being named an honorary officer. Neighbors on Market Street in Galion peeked out their windows and watched from the sidewalk as a myriad of law enforcement vehicles blocked the street in front of Taylor’s house, their red and blue lights shining.
Mansfield Deputy Chief Keith Porch, who was inspired by the actions taken by Galion Police Chief Brian Saterfield, organized the surprise.
“It touched my heart because he’s always wanted to be a police officer, and because of his illness he won’t be able to reach that goal,” said Porch.
Porch emphasized Richland County law enforcement wanted to downplay their efforts to pay their respects to Taylor out of admiration for the Galion Police Department.
“Really all the credit goes to (Saterfield) and what he’s done for the family,” said Porch. “Chief Saterfield did a phenomenal job by swearing him in as an honorary officer, and we don’t want to take away from what they did over there or seem like we’re trying to one-up them. We’re just happy to have been a small part of that.”
Taylor sat wrapped in a blanket on his front porch as every law enforcement officer present shook his hand, posed for pictures and gave up pieces of their own uniforms to give to the honorary officer. It all went by in a blur for Taylor’s mother, Pam Tischer.
“I don’t know everything that happened, I was busy thanking everybody,” said Tischer.
After welcoming nine Galion police officers into her home last week, Tischer was initially nervous about having officers from the entirety of Richland County come to her home.
“My first reaction was I didn’t know where I was going to put everybody,” she said. “Deputy Porch told me not to worry about it, that he would take care of everything.”
Porch noted that every agency in Richland County attended on his or her own time as no one was required to attend Wednesday’s event. He added that he wished he could have done more.This event included about 40 officers from surrounding police agencies. Taylor was given police paraphernalia including a police hat with a badge, uniform shirts, a SWAT uniform, and DARE products.
“If it were up to me, I would have had 80 police officers from Mansfield over there,” he said.
Shelby Police Sgt. Dave Mack echoed Porch’s sentiments, saying he was honored to be a part of something for such a fine young man.
“Cancer can take a lot of things from you, but it can’t take away who you are,” said Mack. “That young man was able to fulfill a dream and I’m proud to call him a brother in blue.”
After being diagnosed with cancer last year for the second time since he was eight years old, Taylor is nearing the end of his life. Tischer said both she and her son were overwhelmed by the actions of the Galion Police Department as well as the Richland County departments.
“He never thought he’d be an officer, let alone honored by this many towns,” she said. “It’s phenomenal.”
Editor’s note: Richland Source was in attendance, unaware that Richland County law enforcement intended their act to be a private tribute. Local law enforcement was humbled to honor Craig Taylor after the Galion Police Department made him an honorary officer. Their selfless action was inspiring and humbling for us to record.
“Chief Saterfield did a phenomenal job by swearing him in as an honorary officer, and we don’t want to take away from what they did over there or seem like we’re trying to one-up them. We’re just happy to have been a small part of that,” said Deputy Chief Keith Porch.
Craig Taylor, born April 17, 1975, passed away Sunday, April 6, 2014.
