Tribute to Sergeant Ken Koeller: A Hero Remembered Never Dies

By: Kirk Lawless

On 28 January 1987 at 2:11 a.m., the Jennings Police Department had one of its brothers stolen from them. He did not fall in the line of duty. We did not lose him! He was stolen! He was murdered! He was murdered because of what he was, a policeman. He was murdered for what he represented. He was an old school "policeman's policeman." He was a hero, a mentor and a friend. He is one of the reasons I became a policeman.

I saw what his attackers (multiple) did to him. I saw the spot where was murdered. I saw his life's blood spilled. It was a horrific scene for everyone who saw it. In my case I was a young police officer, just beginning what would eventually become a long, and exciting, and dangerous career. The images are burned into my mind. What impressed me most about the actual scene of his murder, (which I have studied at great length and with an equal ferocity), is that Sergeant Ken Koeller did not just lie down and die a natural death. In that grim scene there was evidence of a great struggle, a fight over life and death, a fight that he could not win, and ultimately ended in his murder. And yet, he fought, despite the odds.

He fought with all the strength he had. He was outnumbered and attacked from the back. He fought back. He attacked his attackers. His cruiser was dented from the driver’s door to the rear quarter panel. The police radio mic cord was stretched to its limit, nearly torn from the base mounted inside the cruiser. He never had the chance to call for backup.

He fought tooth, fang, and claw. He discharged his weapon as he fought, clearing it, in the event one of his many attackers gained control of it. Oh, the blows he endured as he went down! Several were severe enough to cause death, but his cowardly attackers executed him, regardless as, he lay on that cold hard ground. I am certain that Jesus took his hand and comforted him in those final moments and relieved him of the sting of the bullet that ended his life.

In my mind, Ken Koeller did not die completely on that cold January morning.

He lives on, through me and his brother officers, as we continued to fight the good fight. We fought the fight. We will fight to the death. We do not surrender our weapons. We do not surrender. We do not run away. We are not paid nor expected to do any of those things. We are policemen, and when you take one of us away, others stand ready to take over where the first was struck down. That is simply how it is supposed to be done. The Jennings Police Department has produced some of the finest officers known to man.

When you are a young policeman and you see firsthand a crime so heinous, perpetrated against a brother officer, the tone is set for how you see policing, and for which type of policeman you will strive to become.

There is only one goal, and that is to become a policeman's policeman, the real deal! Ken Koeller was, and is just that, "The real deal." I hope that he would have approved of my journey through my career.

This photograph was given to me by Ken's wife. It was taken on New Year’s Eve near midnight while he was working. When I moved to another department, it was the first thing that went into my locker and 25 years later it was the last thing to leave before I closed it for the last time. It still hangs in my office.

So for everyone who reads this, remember, while you are snug asleep in your bed, there are rough men ready to do violence on your behalf!

My apologies for the graphic detail. It was not meant to offend anyone. I just wanted to paint a picture of what "our world" consists of without painting it in actual colors and with "real" words. That will come at a later time.

Rest easy, brother Ken!