Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Steve, yet another December the 13th . . . I'm constantly looking at my watch, knowing your and Lee's EOW time of 11:35 PM is approaching. It's been 32 years to the day since Captain Satterwhite told me over the air to "pick up a box" and I pulled up to that big cast iron steel one at 25th & Venable, slipped my brass call box key in the lock, picked up the phone and had my world, as did your family, relatives and friends, changed forever. I miss you Steve, I think of you every day and what might have been. I know that if you'd lived, like me, you'd be retired and probably bouncing grand babies on your knees, touching Wanda every time she walked by. At 11:35 PM tonight, you and Lee listen for me Steve. I'll be in my back yard, talking to you both, as I have for the last 31 years. Some wonderful day I'll see you again . . . we'll laugh, talk, spend time and tell lies to your law enforcement buddies. With what we all went through on the mean streets of Richmond (lots of good streets too) we really don't have to tell any lies !!!

I've got the bullet pouch you were wearing the night you were killed . . . Wanda gave it to me 2 days later. I touch it every morning and it warms my heart. I'm rambling . . . don't want to stop talking to you, but I'll visit soon. Merry Christmas in Heaven Steve. Maybe one day, we'll hop in our 1973 unmarked, green Plymouth Valient, I'll test the lights and sireen while you snatch up the mike and say:

Richmond, 679 . . .
Go ahead 679 . . .
Richmond, mark Crotty and Stephenson 10-8, 10-41 from the lot. . .
10-4, 679, 10-8 at 2000 hours. I love you Steve, I love all of y'all.

Jim Crotty,
Proud best friend of Edwin H. Stephenson and former Richmond Policeman.

P.S. To all my blue brothers and sisters, Wanda, Steve's former wife has remarried, and resides in the Richmond area with her husband. We've lost touch. She has a son named Robbie Stephenson. If you know her, please send me her email or phone number ([email protected]) Also, to Senior Officer Reichhardt,Waverly, VA,PD. . thank you for your thoughtful and kind words . . .you stated your sentiments sincerely and beautifully. Finally, to all my brothers and sisters working the streets, always remember,
BE FAST, BE FIRST. . . THE BLUE SHIRTS MUST WIN!

Jim Crotty, Special Agent
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (Ret.)

December 13, 2006

Ptlmn. " Steve" Stephenson,

I have started several times trying to come up with words to express myself, but the words just does'nt seem to flow the way I want them to flow. Here goes:
Thank you for your service and dedication to the City of Richmond. May you continue to rest in eternal peace Brother! You are not forgotten. A hero never dies......

P.S. I was still running around in diapers when your life was taken on December 13, 1974. I was only two years and seven days shy of nine months old.
(I guess that tells my age, born March 20, 1972.) I've been a policeman now for five years. I started my police career working for Virginia State University. I have since left as you probably know looking down on me, and I am now working for Waverly Police Department. I've been there now going on a month and a half. I have gained valuable experience there in such a short time. Experience I would have never had working for a University Police Department. I just thought I'd share that with you and others who may read your reflection. Had it not been for your best friend and long time partner Jim Crotty sharing fond memories on here, I would have never known what kind of officer you were. I only wish I could be half the officer you were. Please continue to watch over us as we continue on in your memory......

Senior Officer D. W. Reichhardt
Field Training Officer
Waverly Police Department
Waverly, Virginia

Senior Officer D. W. Reichhardt
Waverly PD, Va.

December 13, 2006

Steve,

Another year has come and gone, and I have thought of you, and missed you each of those days. I'll think of you every day for the rest of my life. Your memory is as vivid to me as life itself. Christmas day I'll touch your name on the wall at the National Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial. What a policeman and friend you were!

With utmost respect and brotherly love,

Jim Crotty (Former Richmond, VA Policeman and proud partner of Ptlm. E.H. Stephenson)

Jim Crotty, Special Agent (Ret.)
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms

December 13, 2005

It was 30 years ago tonight buddy . . . I'll always wonder what would have been . . . you and Lee . . . gone in the blink of an eye. Listen for me tonight at 11:35 PM Steve . . . I'll be outside talking to you and Lee. Your best friend in the world. "Crotty & Stephenson, Richmond, . . . mark us 10-41, 10-8 from the lot, 2005 hours." I love you buddy.

Jim Crotty

December 13, 2004

Thinking about you buddy . . . as always . . . rest easy Steve.

Jim . . . your Unit 679 Partner

November 20, 2004

Patrolman Stephenson,

Rest in Peace Brother...Many years have gone by, but you will never be forgotten.

Officer
NC

July 10, 2004

Steve, Today we're having a Peace Officers Memorial Day Ceremony where I work as an Instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. I'll be thinking of you especially strongly. I miss you so much buddy. I miss all of you . . . Vernon, Lee, Alan, Harry, Taylor, Donnie and all the rest . . . but you were my best friend in the world and Task Force Partner.. . and your absence is especially noticed. With brotherly love and utmost respect, your best friend, Jim Crotty (Former Richmond, VA Police Officer.) "Crotty and Stephenson . . . Unit 679 . . . 10-41, 10-8 from the lot."

Special Agent (Retired)
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms

May 19, 2004

Steve, I'm going to share some of my memories of you with those who visit you and your reflections . . . especially those who did not have the pleasure of knowing you. Listen to me my brother officers, and all others who are reading this. I need to tell you about Steve:

He was my very best friend . . . I was his best friend. Although his name was Edwin, those of us who knew, admired and loved him, called him Steve . . . short for his last name, Stephenson. "Steve" just "fit" better too!! He graduated from the police academy not long after I did and was assigned to the Patrol Division. I didn't really know him at the time, but heard about this young officer named Stephenson, who was sharp, aggressive, as tough as he needed to be (which, on the streets of Richmond, was "often and plenty") and also, what a good guy he was. His wife worked for the city, in the same building as the police department . . . a very pretty lady named Wanda.

From the Patrol Division I was promoted to the Task Force, the department's selective enforcement unit. There were 20 of us, all highly motivated, self starters, and aggressive. We worked with partners, in unmarked cars, assigned to high crime areas during high crime hours . . we worked nights, 8:00 P.M. - 4:00 A.M. We were not logged calls, but were given assignments such as staking out convenient stores during rashes of robberies, areas where rapes were occourring, etc. A few months after being in the Task Force, my partner was transferred to the Detective Division and I was assigned a new partner . . . Steve.

He was all that I'd heard, and more. He was short in stature, but his tenacity was huge . . . a tireless workhorse. He loved Wanda . . was absolutely crazy about her . . . and his brand new baby boy . . . if we weren't talking "shop", we were talking about his little boy (called "Robbie" after our good friend, and the late Richmond Police Captain Donnie Robinson).

God brought Steve into the world to be a policeman . . more specifically, a Richmond, Virginia Policeman. Steve had a "sixth" sense like I'd never seen. I always drove . . . he was always "shotgun" . . . always looking, assessing. If I didn't spot something, he did, and I'd hear the excitement in that Southern drawl when he'd "go on alert" and say "Jim, Jim . . . look at those guys . . . let's pull 'em . . I know there "holding." He was always right . . . he never missed. If he said they were holding . . . they were holding . . . If I heard "Jim, Jim . . . let's check that guy out . . he's "wrong" . . . I know he is"! We'd check him out, and sure eneough . . . "outstanding warrants on file" or a consealed firearm . . . or drugs. And drugs . . . Steve and I "lived" to make drug arrests . . . almost every night, we'd lock somebody up for possession, possession with the intent to distribute, paraphernalia, etc. If someone was driving a van with a "Zig-Zag" decal on the rear window . . . we were going to follow them until they wandered over the center line or rolled through a stop sign . . . with one thing in mind . . . drugs. He was SO savvy, so loyal. If an officer put out the distress call, no speed was fast eneough for Steve . . . like all of us, just the thought of anybody raising a hand to a Richmond Officer initiated a wrath hard to describe. He was so loyal.

And although a true warrior, a was so kind, considerate and compassionate. When somebody deserved to be cut a break, we'd put our heads together. We'd always agree when it came to cutting somebody a break. He loved to tell stories and laugh . . . it was never boring in Unit 679 . . . we'd talk and laugh, tell stories, talk of our goals and aspirations, love of family, love of the department, our fellow officers. He was such a wholesome breath of fresh air.

Then, one day transfer orders came out, and I made detective, but although excited at the prospect, saddened that I'd be off those mean streets, seperated from my buddy, and best friend. He was happy for me. Now, yet another outstanding Patrolman was transferred from the Patrol Division to the Task Force . . . a wonderful person and extremely tenacious policeman named Lee Rich. Lee was already our very good friend . . it seems that officers who share the same enforcement mentality, always get drawn together as friends. Once again, Steve always rode shotgun and Lee drove. They reaked havoc on street drugs as Steve and I had done. We'd always "meet up" and they'd tell me of their conquests . . . Steve was on top of the world . . . loved his job, loved his wife and loved his baby. And then, came the tragic night of Friday, December 13, 1974. A cold, clear night, and like all others in Richmond, busy with action.

Lee and Steve were leaving Richmond Memorial Hospital when they heard of a high speed chase in progress on the radio. The vehicles we drove were Valiants, small and light with V-8 engines . . . they would "scream." Excellerating away from the hospital to join in the chase, gaining significant speed, they hit a slight dip in a Northside intersection blocks from the hospital. The rear end broke traction . . . Lee applied the brakes . . . they skidded over 150 feet . . . .into an unyielding tree.

It was over. Steve was dead on the scene. Lee would be transported back to the same hospital, where he would die an hour later. I was in the East end, having just been promoted to a Patrol Supervisor. All the radio traffic concerning the accident had been on another channel . . . I was unaware that my best friend was dead . . . my good friend quickly dying. I wondered why when slowly passing by my officers, they wouldn't wave or even look at me . . . they knew what had happened . . . but couldn't bring themselves to tell me. Then Captain George W. Satterwhite called me on the radio and asked me to pick up a police call box phone. I did. In a somber tone, he asked if Stephenson "was" Catholic. I remember sayin "WAS Catholic? . . . he IS Catholic! Captain Satterwhite then told me what had happened. . . I got light headed, saw "snakes", my knees buckled as I started to go down . . . and was grabbed from behind by Officer Donna Armstrong and another of my Officers. They had walked up behind me to lend support. They knew I was about to find out. It was over. I miss you Steve . . . Wanda is fine . . . your parents made it through it all, although it's left a void that'll never be filled. Your son Robbie, is a fine young man. I love you partner . . . tell Harry, Alan, Vernon, Donnie, Taylor and the rest of the guys I love them too. Until later, your best friend in the world, Jim (Former Richmond, VA Policeman) "Crotty and Stephenson, Unit 679" P.S. Thank you brothers and sisters, for allowing me to share this with you.

Special Agent Jim Crotty
ATF (SA, Retired)

February 28, 2004

May God always shine his love on you and your family.

Anonymous

February 22, 2004

May God rest your soul, and take care of your widow.

Officer RB Wade, retired
Richmond, VA Police, retired

August 23, 2003

This is my Great cousin, this web site was very helpful. Thnks so much

Anonymous

Rest easy, brother. You will not be forgotten. A hero lives forever.

Deputy M. Moore
Warren County S.O. (OH)

You will not be forgotten

CPD