ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 27, 1996 TAG: 9602270062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: KRISTEN KAMMERER STAFF WRITER
In 1963, a teen-ager fresh out of Pearisburg High School took an aptitude test. It said he had the right stuff to be a police officer. Taking the evaluation to heart, the young man joined the Army and trained with the military police. He served 13 months in Korea and later at Fort Knox in Kentucky and Fort Gordon in Georgia.
When he returned home, he joined the Radford Police Department. In his 30 years there, he's proved his flair for law enforcement.
But on April 1, Sgt. Don William Cole, now 56 and the longest-serving officer on Radford's force, will retire.
Six feet tall and silver-haired, Cole cuts an imposing figure in his dark, navy uniform. What's most impressive, though, is how unimposing he actually is. Soft-spoken and patient, Cole says it is the duty of every police officer to be accessible to the public.
"People have to feel comfortable in approaching you," he says. "Otherwise you can't help them find solutions to their problems."
The rapport Cole has cultivated with the citizens of Radford is evident when he drives downtown in his patrol car. On almost every block, someone waves after him and shouts, "Hi Don!"
During his first 12 years at the Radford department, Cole worked from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. "The night shift was definitely the worst one," he says. "More people. More activity. Everyone's getting off from work and there are more people in the street. More chance of something happening."
Though much of his work involved helping people solve "little problems of every kind," Cole sometimes faced difficult and gut-wrenching situations. He answered calls involving lost children, vicious dogs, intoxicated drivers, violent domestic quarrels and everything in between.
He became known for his ability to stay cool when the heat was on.
There was the time at a late-night traffic barricade when a motorist threw a hand grenade from a car window.
"The subject was intoxicated and making threats," Cole remembers. "We heard the grenade hit the ground ... fortunately it didn't go off. Then I started talking to the guy and finally got him to calm down and come with us."
There's little room for emotion when an officer is in the middle of a situation like that, Cole says. "You can't get into the reasons why [they do what they do], otherwise it would drive you crazy. You can't dwell, you have to try to shut it out because you have to start all over again the next day with new problems to solve. I couldn't have lasted 30 years unless I knew how to keep it from getting to me."
But police officers are only human, he says. The strain of holding back his feelings shows on his face when he describes investigating cases of child abuse. Looking down at his feet, he quietly says, "Those are tough ones. That kind of thing has got to affect you. It's not right. It's hard not to get angry, especially when you're a parent. But you have to be professional."
Besides his patrol duties, Cole served as a field training officer for the department. When new recruits came to Radford, they rode with Cole for 10 weeks and learned the finer points of law enforcement.
Many of Radford's current officers were once Cole's trainees.
Lt. Phillip Cochran, who has known Cole for 25 years, describes the retiring officer as conscientious, hardworking and dedicated. "He tried to give all his recruits a simple philosophy and that was to always do the best you can, be honest and treat people the way you'd want them to treat you," Cochran said. "And that's exactly what he did himself."
Cole's dedication to police work rubbed off on his son, David, 27, who also decided to pursue a career in law enforcement. He is a patrol officer with the Blacksburg Police Department.
The younger Cole says his father "had a strong sense of morals and integrity. I never remember him calling in sick ... it was like a Cal Ripken thing. He always said that when people depend on you to be there, you've got to be there. That kind of stuck with me."
But David Cole says that his father's dedication also had a down side. He remembers growing up with his brothers, Mark and Charles, while his father was working nights. "It was hard, because just when we'd be getting home from school, Dad would be leaving for work. We missed him and he missed us ... so we really looked forward to his days off when we could do things together as a family."
The two made up for some of that time when the Radford Police Department arranged to have the two Coles ride together - the first time they worked together as police officers.
"I wouldn't have traded the experience for the world," David Cole said. "It would have been harder to see Dad retire without having worked with him at least once. Now it will be easier for us both."
As for the future, Cole says he plans to spend more time visiting with his 3-year-old grandson, Mark Allen Jr. He would also like to do more vegetable gardening, hiking, hunting and fishing.
Though the sergeant's colleagues will miss him, they're happy to see badge No. 151 get a well-deserved break.
"We're all happy for Don," Cochran says. "He's done his time. He's served the citizens of Radford honorably and is very deserving of his retirement. It's time for him to rest."
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Gene Dalton. Radford City policeman Don Cole with hisby CNBson David who is a member of the Blacksburg Police Department.
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