Police camaraderie holds strong after months of tragedy


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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah law enforcement has seen more than its fair share of tragedy since the killing of Sgt. Derek Johnson on Sept. 1, 2013.

Utah’s law enforcement is made up of men and women who rush into situations most people run away from.

“We try to be big macho people in law enforcement,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. “But that’s not always true.”

They're tasked with a job that's never really done, and it’s changing all the time.

“There is always a lot going in law enforcement, but there are things that cause more turmoil than normal,” Cannon said.

That turmoil began in September when most officers were already saddened with the news of fallen Draper police officer Derek Johnson. Then the Utah County Sheriff’s Office got the news that Sgt. Jay Lessley was killed in a plane crash.

“Many of us were preparing to go to the funeral that day when Sgt. Lessley, who was not on duty, was flying and crashed and was killed in that crash,” Cannon said.

Lessley was a 13-year veteran of the Utah County Sheriff's Department.

Then on Jan. 16, Joshua Boren, a part-time deputy at the Utah County Jail, allegedly shot and killed his wife, two young children and his mother-in-law before killing himself.

“It’s hard to come to grips with how you look at that, simply because of the heinous nature of what he did,” Cannon said.

And now with the events of Jan. 30, officers are left mourning the death of one of their brothers, Sgt. Cory Wride, and hoping for the recovery of Greg Sherwood.

I was sitting next to him (Wride) in a staff meeting last week. You don’t ask yourself, ‘Well, I wonder when his time will be.’ It’s just not a question we let cross our minds,” Cannon said.

Through it all, Cannon says they rely on each other. And even if it's just for a moment, they can let that "tough guy facade" come down.

“How do you and your colleagues get past something like this? Do you ever get over something like this?” Cannon asked. "When the door is closed and we’re all together, it’s not uncommon to see a lot of raw emotion.”

After each of these horrible events, Cannon said they hold "critical incident meetings." It's a chance for those involved to ask for help, lean on each other and learn ways to cope.

“One thing that’s very impressive is the camaraderie and brotherhood of law enforcement,” Cannon said.

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Ashley Kewish

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