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Opinion editorials Handling of Pit Appeal Calls for a Time-Out |
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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Sunday, June 14, 2009
Officer Put Life on Line
The stories that have emerged about State Police Sgt. Andrew Tingwall — killed last week in a helicopter rescue attempt on a snowy mountain — center on his love of flying, his playful character, his tough demeanor, his humble nature. Those things help us relate to him as a regular guy.
But as a sworn law enforcement officer, the 13-year State Police veteran clearly understood that regular folks depended on him to keep them safe.
In August he dashed out of an Albuquerque eatery mid-meal upon hearing a radio call about a man in an arroyo. State Police spokesman Peter Olson says Tingwall spotted "the man stuck under a bridge at Carlisle and I-40. He climbed down the arroyo bank and just grabbed this large man out of the river."
When the cameras and microphones showed up to cover the heroism, "He just said, 'You'd do the same for me,' '' Olson recalls.
He had done "the same" a month earlier, when he choppered out a group of Boy Scouts lost in the Santa Fe National Forest. And he was doing "the same" Tuesday when he flew to the aid of a lost hiker facing a snowstorm at nightfall on a Santa Fe peak.
State Police Chief Faron Segotta says "the clouds got him," referring to the fast-moving storm that appears to be the cause of the crash. But the comment could just as easily be taken figuratively.
Day-in and day-out, regular folks expect so much of law enforcement officers like Tingwall. And day-in and day-out, they do their best to deliver.
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