Detective Kerrie Sue Orozco

Orozco, after all these years, I still think about you. I wrote about how I met you when I was 7. I wrote an essay about how much you inspired me to become a police officer. Though you were never able to read it in this life, I hope you felt it. It received an A+ and won a middle school English writing contest by vote. Through all the near fatal moments I have been faced with, abuse and slander I have endured by authority, bullying from my peers that was ignored by faculty, I still remained brave, courageous, kind, and resilient. With the thought of you and the support of my family I’ve been able to get back up on my feet to step up to the plate. I hope you are proud. I give you all the credit for my resilience. I remember you downtown teaching me all the tactical gear on your vest and telling me about your day to day life as an officer. I seen the power you provide to us girls and women. I’ll never forget that day as it gave me a force I felt inside my little heart that created the indestructible grit I’m know for today. I remember hearing the news of what you gave to our city and I cried to my parents about how you were taken from your littles and loving husband. I pray for their solace. I was 7 all those years ago looking up to you (literally) as I was near your waste level when we first met. Now, standing tall at 22, nothing has changed. I still look up to you. This time to the sky. Although, I have not yet become a police officer, I became an EMT. Serving those who now look up to me on a stretcher. Those who allow me to hold their lives in my hands. Lives I try to save in the memory of you and all others who had it taken from them. After all these years, I still pray for you and your family. Until we meet a second time. Thank you for everything you may not of known you’ve given me.

Abby Crozier- EMT, CNA
The little girl who said “Hello.”

November 23, 2024