Author: Mike Simmons
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End of Watch: Pensacola Police Officer John William Robert Gordon
Pensacola Police Department, Florida End of Watch Sunday, September 22, 1889 The members of the Pensacola Police Department had never experienced this feeling until September 23, 1889. It was the first time. On September 22, 1889, Officer Gordon made an arrest. The suspect fought with Gordon and force was used to take him into custody. The…
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End of Watch: Corporal William Connors
End of Watch Saturday, September 16, 1944 Corporal William Henry Connors, 61 years old, had been a Pensacola Police Officer since 1921. But nobody knew him as William, or Bill, or Henry. He was “Bobo.” Why the name Bobo? Because his father, who was a Pensacola Police Officer at the dawn of the 20th Century, was…
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End of Watch: Amos Cross
Officer Amos Cross Pensacola Police Department, Florida End of Watch Friday, September 12, 1980 On this day in 1980, the Pensacola Police Department lost one of its best officers. A model of a man. That was how Amos Cross was described. Quiet, polite, and calm were some of his attributes. He wanted to be a police…
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End of Watch: Kenneth Baldwin
Officer Kenneth Baldwin Okaloosa County Airports Police Department, Florida End of Watch Friday, September 11, 1987 In 1962, Kenneth Baldwin, a 17-year-old kid from Columbus, Mississippi, found himself in serving in the U. S. Army in Vietnam. He eventually promoted to sergeant, earning several commendation medals. In 1982, he retired from the Army and, with his…
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Attack on America: The 9/11 Tragedy
On September 11, 2001, I was a Pensacola Police sergeant. I was teaching a class as an adjunct instructor at West Florida High School on that Tuesday morning when my wife called and informed me that an airliner had struck one of the towers of the World Trade Center. We turned the television on in…
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EOW: Sergeant Chip Shackleford
Sergeant “Chip” Shackleford Pensacola Police Department, Florida End of Watch Monday, February 27, 1933 Sergeant Chip Shackleford, 66 years old, died of a head injury that resulted from a fight he had on Sunday evening, January 15, 1933, with a man he had just arrested. The fight occurred on Tarragona Street between Garden and Romana Streets…
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End of Watch: David Neau
Deputy Sheriff Michael David Neau Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, Florida End of Watch Sunday, September 5, 2021 Deputy Sheriff Michael Neau died one year ago from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty while working at the Okaloosa County Courthouse, 1940 Lewis Turner Boulevard, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Deputy Neau had…
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End of Watch: Constable Clint Rigby
Constable William Clinton Rigby Escambia County District Four Constable’s Office, Florida End of Watch Sunday, September 4, 1955 W. C. Rigby was a legend. Everyone in northern Escambia County, Florida knew him. They knew two things about him. He was always there to help and serve, and he was a strict enforcer of the law. But…
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The Guy Living in the Crypt
From the book “Stories of Pensacola’s Finest” available at Amazon. It was a Saturday morning. The sun was bright, the weather was comfortable, and the humidity was unusually low – important in the humid climate of Pensacola, Florida. I was a young police officer, riding in my patrol car on the west side of downtown…
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End of Watch: PPD Detective Archie Bowman
“I’m Tired of Them Police” An excerpt from the book “Stories of Pensacola’s Finest,” available at Amazon. August 19, 1938 was a hot, 91-degree, muggy day. Archie Bowman was a special officer (detective) with the Pensacola Police Department. An investigation led him to 1005 N. Hayne Street, the home of Ben Davis, a known liquor…