Police documentary coming to Port Clinton
11/27/2012PORT CLINTON, Ohio — Law enforcement has been, for a long time, an important part of Roseann Hickman's daily life.
The Port Clinton salon owner is married to Robert Hickman, Port Clinton’s chief of police, who is a 31-year police veteran.
When Mrs. Hickman saw promotions on Facebook for Heroes Behind the Badge, a documentary about officers who have died or been injured in the line of duty, and learned there was an opportunity to bring the movie — and its director — to Port Clinton, she started the ball rolling.
The 90-minute documentary will show at Port Clinton's Performing Arts Center, 821 S. Jefferson St., at 7 p.m. Thursday.
“This is a pretty in-your-face documentary,” she said. “It’s pretty powerful.”
Mrs. Hickman said she has heard from law-enforcement officers from around Ohio who plan to attend the screening, but hopes people with no ties to police work also will come to watch it.
“There seems to be a lack of appreciation for law enforcement, and that’s why I like that this is open to the public,” she said. “They’re able to view it and see what some of these families suffer and sacrifice.”
Larraine Dressel, whose son, Toledo police Detective Keith Dressel, was killed in the line of duty in February, 2007, agreed.
“People don’t respect anybody anymore, let alone officers,” Mrs. Dressel said.
Mrs. Hickman said Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Suzanne Hopper, who was shot and killed while responding to a call in Enon, Ohio, in January, 2011, is featured in the documentary.
This year, 111 officers have died nationwide in the line of duty from things ranging from gunfire and stabbings to heart attacks and auto accidents, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, www.odmp.org. Of the 111 deaths, 39 were by gunfire. Three of the 111 were Ohio law enforcement officials.
Tickets for the screening can be purchased in advance for $15 at the Port Clinton Police Department, Port Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, and Perfect Color Hair & Tan, also in Port Clinton, or online at heroesbehindthebadgeportclinton.eventbrite.com.
Tickets will be for sale the day of the event for $20. Proceeds will benefit the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the Ohio COPS — Concerns of Police Survivors.
Contact Taylor Dungjen at: tdungjen@theblade.com or 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @tdungjen_Blade.