Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

God bless and comfort all who mourn you. Thank you for your service! Rest in peace.

MI

February 23, 2015

IN MEMORY OF HARBOR PATROL ASSISTANT TIMOTHY MITCHELL

To the family, friends, and colleagues of Harbor Patrol Assistant Timothy Mitchell:

From the beginning of time after Cain killed his brother, Abel, there has been a need for law enforcement officers to protect the weak and to bring evildoers to justice. This work is necessary in a sinful world and is dangerous. In modern times, some fifteen hundred and eighty-one law enforcement officers have sacrificed their lives to protect the citizens of the State of California. Today, we honor the sacrifice of Harbor Patrol Assistant Timothy Mitchell, of the Avalon, California Harbor Patrol; who was killed in the line-of-duty on Tuesday, December 30, 2014, when he attempted to secure another boat near the Green Pleasure Pier in Avalon Bay, California, during a severe storm. He apparently jumped, fell, or was washed overboard where he was crushed between a boat and a rock and drowned.

Lord God, we are grateful for the life of Harbor Patrol Assistant Timothy Mitchell. He died serving us. Help us never to forget. Help us celebrate the life of Harbor Patrol Assistant Timothy Mitchell and honor his sacrifice. Be with the family, friends, and colleagues of this fallen hero. Comfort them and give them your strength. Guide those who seek to take care of the family of this hero. May those empowered to do so, care for them with integrity. In commemorating the death of this hero, help those who mourn to remember that death is not the end. Death does not have the final say, but is simply the transition to the glorious life to come. They should look forward to that life to come with joy and thanksgiving.

As for the citizens of Avalon Harbor, California, help them to faithfully equip their law enforcement officers with the best tools to protect their harbor community. May their training be adequate to the task. Help the citizens of Avalon Harbor, California, to remember to pay their law enforcement officers fairly and treat them with respect. Help the citizens of Avalon Harbor, California, to obey the law and treat each other with dignity so as not to add to the burden of crime and pain to their harbor community.

The time for mourning will soon pass. We have now remembered and celebrated the life lost in this great tragedy. As the family, friends, and colleagues of Harbor Patrol Assistant Timothy Mitchell go forward, they must celebrate the good things in their lives; and to celebrate life itself!

Finally, Lord God, we pray for the families, friends, and colleagues of all the law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line-of-duty and we thank you for their sacrifices. Bless the lives of their families, friends, and colleagues so they might find healing. Help their law enforcement organizations support the families of these fallen heroes. Even though their deaths might have been senseless, make something good come out of these situations so that their law enforcement organizations and the communities in which they lived and served might be stronger because of their lives and their deaths.

Now, Harbor Patrol Assistant Timothy Mitchell, may the Lord bless you, and keep you: the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen.

In His Service,

Police Chaplain Steven R. Closs
Retired Captain of Police of the Nashua NH (USA) Police Department
Police Chaplain of the Merrimack NH (USA) Police Department
The Peacemakers Prayer Ministry

Police Chaplain Steven R. Closs
Merrimack NH Police Department

February 22, 2015