BELLVILLE, Ohio — Sunday’s death of a Danville police officer brought a national problem to the community’s doorstep.
Bellville Police Chief Ron Willey will attend tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) funeral service for Danville police officer Thomas Cottrell at 11 a.m. at the Central Ohio Technical College/Ohio State University-Newark campus, 1179 University Dr., Newark.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund, on average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 60 hours. Since the first known line-of-duty death in 1791, more than 20,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have made the ultimate sacrifice. Drug activity is also making the job in law enforcement more dangerous and every day is more challenging.
The murder of Cottrell, shot dead and his weapon and cruiser stolen, was a tragedy felt by many in the area. That story hit especially close to home for Willey.
“Of course, this tragedy effects all of us in uniform. All of us are a tight knit family and although we did not work with him directly, every day he was a brother and his tragic loss is personal to all of us,” Willey said.
Law enforcement officers are a close-knit group. Feeling the pain of losing one of their own so close to their community hit especially hard.
“We lost a member of our family,” Willey said. “Although we know this is a dangerous job and we chose to do it, our pain is just as real when we lose someone in this way. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the Danville Police Department.
“I think it’s important to remember that these attacks on Law Enforcement know no boundaries, it’s not just the big cities where this happens, it is everywhere and unfortunately it happened in the rural Village of Danville.”
