Brother Darrin Potter Sergeant Darrin Potter of the Kentucky Army National Guard was killed in action in Iraq a few days ago. The conflict in which he was engaged has become increasingly politicized and debated, but there is one thing no one can debate. So long as Darren and those like him have been in the field, not a single terrorist attack has occurred on American soil. By taking the fight to the enemy and placing them on the defensive, the terrorist has been placed in a poor position from which to launch offensive operations. Darrin did not die protecting Iraqis. He died protecting us. I met Darrin about six years ago. He was a teenager and an Explorer. His dream was to one day be a police officer. He was conscientious and polite. He was centered and faithful to his goals. When I was a member of the Robbery Unit, Darrin volunteered to do data entry for us. At Derby Events, he carried food and water to the officers. He did anything asked of him, no matter how menial it was, and he never once complained.
Darrin went on to become a Police Cadet where he served with distinction and set the example for his peers. He kept in top physical shape, and he always, always, always kept his eye on the ball as he learned the trade he hoped one day to practice. He possessed a maturity beyond his years, and those who served with him held him in high regard. I never heard anyone say a bad thing about him. In 2001, Darrin was hired as a police officer and while at the academy his name came up in an internal affairs investigation. It hung over him as he made his way through the academy and graduated. It appeared that things were looking up. He was sworn-in with his class. His family and friends threw a party for him. A week later, then-Chief Bill Carcara fired him. If nothing else about this case was wrong, the timing was absolutely unconscionable. Darrin was not yet a member of the FOP, and there were those who thought it unwise to back a rookie seeking reinstatement. They thought it might set a bad precedent, but I took the floor and explained to Lodge 14 what I knew of the case and what my suspicions were. There were things that did not add up or make sense. When I finished speaking, the question was called and the vote was unanimous. Lodge 14 would pay all Darrin Potter's legal bills. True to form, Darrin came to the next meeting and personally thanked the membership. That was just the kind of young man he was. Starting out I had a lot of questions and concerns about Darrin's case, and as discovery materials were provided, my suspicions were borne out and proven true at every turn. In all my years of being a lodge leader and fighting for the rights of police officers, I have never seen a more unreasonable and unjustified termination. When I say that they had nothing, I mean they had NOTHING!!! I was so outraged, and I am still outraged. I am offended first and foremost as a citizen and a taxpayer. Our community was robbed of Darrin's service, and as for the money spent to train him, it was tossed away without so much as a second thought. I am also offended as a Police Officer. We are a profession that upholds justice and honor above all else, and to treat a brother officer in so unjust and dishonorable a manner strikes right to the core of who and what we are. To think something like this can be done to one of us by another of us is unthinkable. I would very much like to tell you all I know of Darrin's case, but it is still pending. Even in death, Darrin might one day receive the justice he so richly deserves, but regardless of what happens in court, it is my sincere hope that one day he be posthumously reinstated as a police officer.
In the next week or two, there will be both an FOP Memorial and a funeral for Darrin Potter, and I ask all of you to help me ensure a strong police presence by attending in force. I will be standing tall in uniform and I would ask all of you to do the same. We need to honor Darrin as one of our own because he was one of our own. I want him and his family to know that he is a fallen brother in every sense of the word. With the Jefferson County Police Department being a thing of the past, there are few possessions I prize more than my old Officer badge. Nonetheless, I would very much like to give it to Darrin so he can be buried with it. I have asked President David James to relay this request to the family, but I have since learned that some other officers have made similar requests. I do not know who among us will be granted the honor, but if the family agrees, Darrin Potter will be buried as a Jefferson County Police Officer. He will have returned to him that which was taken from him.