Friday, June 12, 2009, 4:53 PM
Opinion
By Stephanie Ramage

THE BENEFIT FOR SGT. SCOTT KREHER: A REVIEW

No, sadly this is not my review. 

Thursday night is when the Sunday Paper goes to press and it's rare that I'm able to attend anything then. Last night was especially difficult. Still jetlagged (when the hell does this finally end?) and apparently cursed by the goddess of return phone calls, I struggled to pull together this weekend's cover story, "Officer Down: How City Hall's neglect of officers disabled in the line of duty affects crimefighting in Atlanta's neighborhoods." And I did so with a feeling of being in the wrong place. 

I wanted to be at the benefit for APD Sgt. Scott Kreher and everytime I interviewed a cop who said "Yeah, I'm on my way there now," I scowled at my laptap's empty screen, with all those words still coiled up in the keyboard, and at the clock steadily ticking on, and felt like Cinderella locked in the attic. 

There were so many people I wanted to actually meet in person, but it just wasn't happening. The story had to be done. Deadline--which was pushed to as late an hour as my coworkers are ever likely to tolerate--had to be met.

Fortunately, Turner Knapp, a reader who has stepped in before to be somewhere I couldn't be, offered to cover the event in my stead. Here's his account of the evening. -- Steph

Turner Knapp visits the Cops

So I rolled out to the benefit for Scott Kreher in Midtown last night hoping to rekindle my DJ career. Everyone was gathering on the back patio and I was set up inside at the DJ booth. I had selected some of my favorite tunes from over the
years and I was determined to have a Cop mosh pit going by the end of the night.

Well about halfway through my set somebody rolled up and said, "You know, these guys like rock and roll." That is an immediate indication that the crowd out back was
not 'feelin it' as they say in the industry. So, I decide to hang up my needles and hop out back to mingle with Atlanta's Finest.

(It should be noted, however, that Cosmo's own DJ Jeff saved the day by breaking out some kickass rock and roll and--bonus points--Inner Circle's "Bad Boys," or what most people call "the theme to 'Cops'" which went over unsurprisingly well.)

There was a ton of cops out there, in fact, several tons. These are some of the biggest human beings I've ever met in my entire life and they were everywhere. I'd say 60 or so, the patio was packed out. I saw Sgt. Phinney who was the only one that wasn't towering over me so I decided to introduce myself to him first. I got about 2 sentences in before a swarm of people came up to speak with him. The whole night was kind of like that, lots of hustle and bustle. People
catchin' up, shakin' hands, cracking their best 'bat' joke. One guy from the IBPO had a little mini Louisville Slugger that he had Scott's name etched into.

I met Kevin who helped organize the event and I asked him if it was cool if I got everybody to sign the poster I made for the event so that we could give it to Sgt. Kreher. He said, "Let me go grab Scott and we will talk about it."

"Oh crap, they didn't like the poster" popped in my head along with, "Oh crap, I'm about to meet Scott Kreher."

Scott came over and we did a quick handshake and he said, "So what's going on here?"

Turner: "Well, I made this poster for the thing and I..."

Scott: "Oh yeah, lemme see that thing. Yeah that's cool, man."

Turner: "Really?!?! Awesome."

So I spent the next 30 minutes or so going around to all the little cop circles that had formed on the deck and got
signature after signature till there wasn't an empty piece of real estate on the thing. One guy, halfway joking, told his fellow officers,"Make sure your name isn't readable when you sign that thing so they don't fire ya."

That was the closest thing to a comment about the mayor as I heard all evening. This wasn't a gripe session or even a pity party, these guys were having a good time and all of them opened up their wallets and gave what they didn't have to give to help Scott and his family. If I had to describe the 'vibe' I'd say it was a lot like that. Family.

And if anybody was missing from this reunion it would be Stephanie Ramage whose name was mentioned about every five minutes. I think Kevin put it this way. "Yeah I just got an email from Stephanie. She's got a deadline."

"Of course."

--Turner

It was a shame Stephanie Ramage had to work, but I'm pretty sure all the cops there understood. In that profession, missing events, even important ones, because of a shift running long or because you have to pull duty during that time is a very common thing.

I suppose at some point you get used to people coming up to you to introduce themselves, but I'm not at that point yet. After 20 years, I have gotten used to being overlooked for the most part in a crowd, so that night was still a little uncomfortable for me. My wife and a few friends tease me sometimes, on occasion when my chubby mug shows up on television or in the paper, about being a celebrity. I hope that never comes true, being anonymous still feels "safe" to me. When I meet someone new, it still makes me wonder what they might expect of me, and it's difficult to get a handle on it. Being an identifiable "face" for this problem was just a price we all agreed to pay to fix it.

But, I will have to admit, it was really nice to be around a lot of cops again. Once you have been one of the "brotherhood," it's easy to slip back in no matter how long you might have been gone. Cops have a way of making any other cop feel welcome and accepted, even when they are strangers. In the end, we all "walk through the door" to dangerous situations, and knowing that about another person is enough to have in common for a cop.

I was very glad of the turnout and the support for Sgt. Kreher. I think the word "hero" gets used perhaps a bit too often, but to me someone that risks themselves for someone else when they have nothing to gain personally from doing so fits that word perfectly.

I didn't have any feelings of anger or frustration when I went there that night. The only thing in me was camaraderie and admiration for a guy that stood up for a crew of folks that really needed help. Sgt. Kreher is a hero to me, and I was very pleased to be there for him. I think his actions speak much more about him than any words he has ever used.

It's a shame politics is so very different than that.

Sgt. Ryan Phinney, APD, Retired due to Disability

Ryan
Friday, June 12, 2009 at 5:44 PM

Ryan,

Thank you. I agree completely. The important thing is that so many people turned out to support Sgt. Kreher, and, by doing so, they showed support for you and the other officers who were disabled in the line of duty. But I still wish I could have been there to add my name to the list, so to speak.

-- Very best, Steph

Stephanie Ramage
Friday, June 12, 2009 at 6:02 PM

Stephanie

Turner is correct. Your named was mentioned often and with a great deal of praise and gratitude for your courage and steadfastness. Your support of the injured officers and Sgt. Kreher is obviously a passionate thing for you. Your presence in spirit was certainly felt by everyone. Thank you for the sacrifices you've made. I've no doubt there will be opportunity to meet everyone at some point in time soon.

Turner - I don't know how I missed meeting you, maybe next time. Thanks for the review...good job.

Ryan - It did feel like "family" didn't it? It was good to see you laugh.

April
Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 6:13 PM

One more thing!!

Sgt Kreher and his wife are amazing people. Not that I had any doubt but all they kept saying to Ryan and his wife was to let them know if there was anything more they could do. They both struck me as being the most self-less people I've had the priviledge to meet.

In the midst of their own issues they are thinking only of these injured officers. If we all possessed even a tenth of their character the City would have to be a better place.

REINSTATE SGT. KREHER ....NOW!!!

April
Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 6:20 PM

Turner,
Thank you for covering the event so admirably. It is nice to have someone from outside the family witness firsthand what it is to be a Police Officer. Your choice of the word "family" couldn't be more apt. Few understand what it takes to do this job, and even fewer decide to do it once they realize it. We care about people, complete strangers we have never met might call us to come and fight and put our lives on the line for their benefit. This builds a strong bond between fellow Officers and if we would do this for complete strangers, you can imagine what happens when a fellow Officer needs help. The City can try to turn their back on us all they want to, but we won't go away or be ignored until our fellow Officers are taken care of the way they deserve to be taken care of. If this means taking a little out of everyones already tight schedule and budget, then so be it! It means a lot that others like yourself and Stephanie take time out to help us as well when it seems the City government machine is poised to stonewall and ignore our plights. Sometimes, even those that help others need help.

rob
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 3:49 PM