I work for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, and we lost a deputy today. Deputy Larry Canfield worked as a motorcycle officer for the city of Rancho Cordova, California. By all accounts he loved his work, and the two or three times I had chance to meet him, he was a very happy, positive man.Deputy Canfield was hit by a driver who was apparently made a left turn in front of him as he was accelerating on his motorcycle to catch up to a speeder on Coloma Road. By most accounts tonight, this is simply a tragic accident. The driver involved pulled over immediately, and returned to the scene to offer assistance. My heart goes out to his family just as much as it does to my co-workers and Sheriff's Department family tonight.
This particular incident is sensitive for me, since I was the dispatcher working the radio for this particular incident. My co-workers have all handled difficult situations, and it is, in point of fact, what we are trained to do. But it's sometimes difficult to set aside your emotions while you deal with the rescue effort and have to listen to the strained and emotional voices of the first-responders on the scene.
My job is to stay calm. Sometimes, in the heat of incidents like this, the dispatcher is the only calm voice on the radio. But it's hard to stay calm when deputies that I know are yelling that they need "fire and ambulance here right now!!" Its hard to remain calm when I know that they are there, on scene and hands on, trying to save the life of their friend, knowing that they are watching that life slip away and there's not a thing they can do about it.
I did my job today. I have no regrets about how I performed, or how we as a Department responded to the crisis. Citizens from the surrounding homes were in the street trying to comfort and offer aid to the deputy as his partners raced to the scene. Help was on the scene within 4 minutes of the call coming in on 911.
But sometimes, no matter how fast you get there, its not fast enough.
This was just one of those times.
So I'm taking a minute now to let go of those emotions, and vent some of the frustration that is inevitable at times like this.
Why do these things happen? Why did the driver just happen to turn at that moment? Why did Deputy Canfield chose that moment to accelerate after the speeder? There is no direct answer that will absolve or implicate anyone. Sometimes things just happen.
So, tonight I turn to my God and acknowledge His sovereignty over all things in this life. Nothing happens that God doesn't know about, or that He permits or even ordains. To understand this give ME comfort. I don't know if that gives comfort to his family or my co-workers, but....
I know that God causes all things to work together for good in the lives of those who are in Christ Jesus. I know that among the first responders at the scene, there are believers in Jesus who worked hard to save their friend. I know that God will cause the events of this day to work for good in their lives, and to further His glory in this world. I'm not sure how.... but I know He will.
To Deputy Canfield's family, my most sincere condolences go out and my deepest prayers for their future. I wish I could have done more to get help on the scene faster, I wish a citizen could have called 911 sooner, or I wish the driver could have hesitated just one second before pulling out. But none of that happened. I pray that God would comfort and calm and bring along friends and family to help the family through this most difficult time.
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