By Dave Stephens
South Bend Tribune
MISHAWAKA, Ind. — In thin white letters, Cpl. James Szuba was added to the names of the city’s fallen police officers this week, a memorial list now four names long.
On Wednesday, beneath gray clouds that held back rain, the officers of the Mishawaka Police Department, as well as their families and community members, gathered to pay tribute to the fallen.
Police Chief Ken Witkowski said Szuba, who was hit and killed by a drunken driver Jan. 9, was an excellent officer whose “years of hard work and selflessness will be his legacy.”
Added to that legacy is an officer remembered as the quiet, well-respected son of a South Bend police officer, who loved being on the force and working with his K-9 partner, Ricky.
Szuba died while responding to a high-speed chase on Mishawaka’s east side. Szuba’s patrol car was hit by the vehicle of the fleeing suspect, Shawn Devine, and both he and Ricky were killed.
Devine later pleaded guilty to several charges, including driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.239, nearly three times the legal limit.
Witkowski told the crowd in front of the Mishawaka police station that in a perfect world, officers such as Szuba would not be harmed.
In a perfect world, Witkowski said, police officers would not be needed at all.
But in the absence of that perfect world, the gathered police officers and their families took solace in the fact they are not forgotten.
Szuba’s name joined those of Patrolman Clarence Casper, who was killed on his motorcycle in 1930 while responding to a call; and Cpl. Thomas Roberts and Patrolman Bryan Verkler, who were fatally shot while responding to a call.
For his service and duty, K-9 Ricky was given his own smaller stone in the department’s memorial, engraved with his name and the caption “Not just a police officer, but a best friend.”
After the ceremony, John Gregory, the Police Department chaplain, said the annual service is always hard on the officers, but more so after a death.
“We can’t truly understand why things like this happen,” Gregory said, “only that it makes us realize that we need to be there for each other.”
Copyright 2010 South Bend Tribune Corporation