By Wesley Harris
A good man and dedicated public servant was laid to rest last week.
On April 27, Officer Russell Croxton was tragically killed when he was struck by another vehicle while engaged on a traffic stop.
Russell was a recent addition to the Dubach Police Department. He had served some years ago as Dubach’s chief of police, and more recently, as a police officer with the Louisiana Tech University Police Department. He had returned to Dubach to serve his hometown and be closer to his family.
Russell was 6 years old in 1978 when his father, Ruston Police Sergeant Raymond Croxton died in a patrol car crash. Investigators believed Sgt. Croxton was attempting to catch up to a violator when he struck some debris and lost control of his patrol car.
Russell had told me and other law officers that the death of his father served as impetus to pursue his own career as a law enforcement officer.
This is National Police Week. Every year, law enforcement personnel, public officials, and private citizens, along with the survivors of lost officers, assemble in Washington, DC to pay tribute to those fallen heroes who served and sacrificed.
Monday will be dedicated to the 36th Annual Candlelight Vigil on the National Mall. The vigil will honor the officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. Their names will be read, with reverence, by high-ranking government and law enforcement officials. Later this year, those names will be engraved into the nearby National Law Enforcement Memorial.
Russell was the fifth law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty in Lincoln Parish.
In 1896, Ruston hired John Tom Sisemore as police chief to deal with the town’s crime and disorder problems. No previous chief had been able to resolve the nightly gunfire and unrest. Sisemore performed the duties in addition to his responsibilities as a deputy U.S. marshal for northwest Louisiana.
On the evening of November 17, 1898, Sisemore ate supper with his family and played with his youngest son by the fire. Observing his evening routine, Sisemore then left his home on South Trenton Street to make his final rounds through the town.
As he neared the hard-packed street to walk downtown, Sisemore heard a noise in the pine thicket where Walgreen’s on California Avenue is now located. Drawing his revolver, he approached the trees slowly. A shotgun blast knocked Sisemore to the ground. A second shot missed. Sisemore died soon after neighbors carried him to his bed. His killer was never brought to justice.
Over 40 years would pass before the next line-of-duty death of a local officer.
Officer Andrew Harrison “Hal” Posey was a respected officer who had narrowly missed being elected sheriff after working a number of years at a local store.
On the evening of November 24, 1940, Posey and Officer Ed Neal were called to a downtown Ruston cafe where two intoxicated men were causing a disturbance. The officers found John Breedlove—Posey’s brother-in-law—and another man drinking in the café. Posey stayed back and let Neal handle the disorderly men. The officer sent them home.
With no police dispatchers on duty in those days, officers on patrol were alerted to calls from the telephone operator by lights hanging in strategic locations about town. Around midnight, the officers spotted the call light and checked in. A call had been received about numerous gunshots at a home on Alabama Avenue where Breedlove boarded with a sister.
When Neal and Posey pulled up at the house, Breedlove shot out a light and walked out onto the darkened front porch. Neal tried to talk to the inebriated man who ignored him and walked toward the back yard as the officers followed. Breedlove turned and fired. His first shot missed, but two more struck Posey. Posey returned fire, hitting Breedlove three times. Breedlove then turned his revolver on Neal and pulled the trigger, but the gun was empty. Posey died and Breedlove was hospitalized with minor injuries.
Breedlove was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in the state prison.
Ruston Police Sergeant Croxton’s crash occurred on May 23, 1978. Well liked by his coworkers, he served as a patrol team supervisor. I took the call that night from a private citizen reporting the tragedy by phone. I remember the lowering of the flag at City Hall and standing vigil at his casket prior to his funeral. It was a time none of us who served at that time will ever forget.
On February 5, 1983, Louisiana State Police Trooper Mike Kees was killed in a crash during a vehicle pursuit in Lincoln Parish. Kees had made a traffic stop in Ouachita Parish, and as he approached the vehicle it sped away. He pursued the vehicle for approximately 20 miles before he lost control near Choudrant.
Police officers are trained to realize the dangers of the street include more than bad guys with guns. While felonious murders of American police officers have declined—largely because of changes in tactics, improved equipment, and enhanced emergency
medical services—automobile crashes account for a significant number of officer fatalities each year. The number of officers struck by vehicles while directing traffic, investigating accidents, and making roadside arrests, as well as crashes responding to calls, rival gunfire as leading causes of officer deaths.
Police officers enter every situation aware unpredictable threats may arise without warning. The dangers are emotional as well as physical. The strains placed on officers and their families take their toll. While Russell’s death will increase the vigilance of all area law officers, it also heightens the anxiety of their families when they strap on duty belts and pin on badges and go out to protect the rest of us.
Experienced law officers like Sisemore, Posey, Kees, and Ray and Russell Croxton are well aware of the threats that come with the job. That doesn’t make the loss any easier when one is taken from us.
One of Russell’s fellow officers expressed his sorrow on the Officer Down Memorial Page (odmp.org): “Russ was my friend, co-worker, and kindred spirit. He always had a kind word and a smile ready to make everyone smile. This one hits hard. He took the job with Dubach Police Department to have more time to spend with his family. I pray for them and mourn with them for the loss of a great man. RIP brother. We’ll take it from here.”
For more information on National Police Week and the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, go to facebook.com/NLEOMF or nleomf.org.
