Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Rest in Peace Officer Benner. Thank you for your service. My thoughts and Prayers go out to your family, co-workers, and friends.

Lieutenant Robert T. Mote (ret)
Buena Park, CA Police Department

May 26, 2015

Praying for your family as they will miss you so...We are thankful for Police Officers and we grieve with you like family, we are thankful for your service in the Military...our hearts ache to see this senseless tragedy...we pray all who are guilty will be caught and brought to justice--Godspeed.

Police Family

Former LEO
Former Fed Police

May 26, 2015

Sincere condolences go out to your family, friends and Rio Rancho police family. Thank you sir, for your service to our country and to the Rio Rancho community. May you rest in peace and may God bring comfort to your family.

MaryAnn & Bill Schaefer
Civilians

May 26, 2015

My son and I are saddened by this tragic and senseless crime. We have lived in Rio Rancho for 12 years, the shooting took place a block from our home. Officer Benner was one of the top cops in Rio Rancho. He believed in his community and cared for its people. He helped me just 2 months ago get my son back from his father and just 6 days ago came and checked on us.

Our hearts and prayers go out to his family, fellow RRDPS officers and this community. Glad they caught the man who murdered a great cop, veteran and man.

Monica, citizen

May 26, 2015

Rest in peace officer Benner. My sincere condolences to your family and to your department. Godspeed as you now patrol the streets of gold.

Officer Terry F. Zech (Ret)
Veteran affairs police department Detroit Michigan

May 26, 2015

May the good lord welcome you with open arms, for you have done your job well.

Chaplain Douglas J. Maykowski
Fraternal Order Of Police Lodge #187 Mt. Clemens Michigan.

May 26, 2015

Deepest condolences to the city, the Department and the family in the loss of the Officer.

William Tennant
NM Corrections Department

May 26, 2015

May God comfort your family, friends, and fellow officers at this difficult time.

God bless and protect the Thin Blue Line that protects us all.

Kathryn Felts Family Member of Multiple
Family Member of Law Enforcement Officers

May 26, 2015

May the family's fond memories help them through this difficult time.

Terry L. Vice
Patrol Officer (1979-1984)
Greeley PD
Colorado

May 26, 2015

Rest in peace. Prayers to your family and friends at this difficult time.

Detective B. Schaefer
Omaha Police Dept

May 26, 2015

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and to the department.

Nina Temmis, Felony Probation Officer
GA Department of Corrections

May 26, 2015

IN MEMORY OF POLICE OFFICER GREGG “NIGEL” BENNER

To the family, friends, and colleagues of Police Officer Gregg “Nigel” Benner

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, three police officers have sacrificed their lives to protect the citizens of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Today, we honor the sacrifice of Police Officer Gregg “Nigel” Benner, of the Rio Rancho, New Mexico, Police Department; who was shot and killed in the line-of-duty, on Monday, May 25, 2015, while making a traffic stop in the area of 900 Pinetree Road SE in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Lord God, we are grateful for the life of Police Officer Gregg “Nigel” Benner. He died serving us. Help us never to forget him. Help us celebrate the life of Police Officer Gregg “Nigel” Benner 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 Rio Rancho, New Mexico, help them to faithfully equip their law enforcement officers with the best tools to protect their community. May their training be adequate to the task. Help the citizens of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, to remember to pay their law enforcement officers fairly and treat them with respect. Help the citizens of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, to obey the law and treat each other with dignity so as not to add to the burden of crime and pain to their 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 Police Officer Gregg “Nigel” Benner 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, Police Officer Gregg “Nigel” Benner, 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
Senior Pastor of “The Peacemakers Prayer Ministry”

Chaplain Steven R. Closs
Merrimack NH Police Department

May 26, 2015

When Great Trees Fall
Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

Anna
Civilian

May 26, 2015

Godspeed, Officer Brenner. Thank you for your service to our country and to your community. May the memory of your laugh, your gentle way and your caring heart live on in your children and grandchildren. And during this so tragic time, may your wife and family find comfort in the tremendous support from your family in blue. Go rest high on the mountain, Officer Brenner.... Gone but never forgotten.

Retired, Civilian Operations Supervisor
Farmington, NM Police Dept

May 26, 2015

May God bless his family and friends with peace, comfort and acceptance
during this difficult time.

Beverly Sadler Majkut
Citizen

May 26, 2015

Rest in peace my brother

Po Buzzanca 3323
suffolk county police long Island., NY

May 26, 2015

Nigel worked with myself and my deputies this past weekend for our annual Memorial Day motorcycle rally. You couldn't help but like him instantly. He was clearly loved by his fellow officers. Our prayers are with the family and the Rio Rancho Police Department. Thanks Nigel...for everything.

Marshal David Smith
Red River Marshal's Office

May 26, 2015

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and fellow co-workers of Officer Gregg Benner during this difficult time. My they find comfort and support from those around them. My God help heal their aching hearts. Rest in peace, Officer Benner.

Gail M. Pabst
Aunt of fallen Detroit P.O. Jennifer Fettig eow 2/16/04

May 26, 2015

R.I.P. Brother.

Inv. Bowman
Dare Co. Sheriff's Office, NC

May 26, 2015

To the family ...So very sorry for your tragic loss...prayers and support surround you!
Many blessings to you in your time of grief.

Rev. Dr. Zoli Althea Browne
Civilian support

May 26, 2015

Always with a smile and a handshake a every meeting with him; Nigel was the quintessential positive role model for younger officers, and the epitome of a proactive police officer. He will be sorely missed. Rest In Peace, brother.

SRO Ray O'Lesky
RRPD

May 26, 2015

May you rest in peace Officer Benner. Thank You for your service in the Military and as a Police Officer. Thoughts and Prayers being sent to your family and fellow Officer's of the Rio Rancho Police Department.

Chief Dale A Ruff
Sanford Police Department-Colorado

May 26, 2015

Rest in peace Officer Benner

Officer Joseph Bresette
Galesville Police Department (WI)

May 26, 2015

My deepest and sincerest condolences to all of the loved ones of our brave Officer Benner who is with our Lord. May The Lord cover all of you with a blanket of peace in this your time of need. The Lord hath prepared him a room which he is occupying at this very moment. Our beloved Officer Brenner will be missed, but we all know that there will come a day when we all shall be together again in the presence of our Lord Almighty. As Officer Brenner dons his white robe, we shall ensure that his legacy lives on from generation to generation! May The Lord continue to be with you. May The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, Amen.

Deanna A. Romano-Parisi-Nichols
An Officer Family

May 26, 2015

Rest in Peace Officer Benner. Thank you for your service. My thoughts and prayers are with the Benner Family and the Rio Rancho Police Department.

Cpl. Gary Hughes (Retired)
Passaic County Sheriff's Office Wayne, NJ

May 26, 2015