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Blessed by heroes who serve quietly

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Tom Jackson

tjackson@tampatrib.com

Published: October 11, 2009

Thank heaven there are such among us as Daniel Green, who, until just a few days ago, had mastered the art of being a good cop. That is, his achievements were unrelentingly laudatory without rising to the level of newsworthiness.

Oh, others noticed. Judges, case workers, satisfied civilians. But a sheriff's detective who operates by a creed of professionalism and devotion earns headlines about as often as the airline pilot with an unblemished record of routine takeoffs and landings.

I mean, we're grateful for their competence, but we also pretty much take it for granted. It's not until one of them safely skims down in the Hudson River that their skill and composure in dangerous circumstances captures our notice.

So it is with 39-year-old Detective Sgt. Daniel Green, Ridgewood High alumnus and, until publication of his identity Thursday, the best Pasco County deputy we never heard of.

That title now goes to someone else, someone - by definition - we never heard of.

A necessary investigation

Green was quietly assembling the credentials appropriate for a distinguished service citation until, in the course of his shift pursuing ne'er-do-wells in the worrisome Tommytown district, he confronted the briefly elusive Mildred "Chrissy" Pace.

The incident report describes Pace as a suspect in a couple of burglaries, including one in which a handgun was stolen. Green, at least, surely had that in mind when the chase to apprehend her wound down and, according to the sheriff's office, Pace lurched toward deputies while executing a movement that suggested she was withdrawing a weapon from beneath her blouse.

That, authorities say, is when Green fired, hitting her in the abdomen and triggering the scenario in which the public has become extremely familiar with his service record.

Which is - did we mention this? - without exception exemplary.

We know now that Pace was unarmed. We know also that Green is on paid administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates. This is not merely mandatory, it is altogether proper, because even the most dutiful of deputies can, in tense circumstances, miscalculate.

Not that we are suggesting that happened here. Frankly, we are hoping every detail in the report from the sheriff's office checks out.

Heroes are as heroes do

Much of what Daniel Green had achieved before the events of Tuesday afternoon was heroic, even if quietly done. Now he is in the headlines, and I am guessing the former Pinellas deputy who came home to Pasco because he longed to serve where he grew up, is feeling anything but heroic.

A grim absence of a sense of valor would be precisely the right emotion.

Assuming that's where his head is, we reiterate: Thank heaven for such as Daniel Green. It is a blessing more than we deserve that Green and similarly courageous and dedicated souls exist in such abundance that law enforcement agencies can hire and promote selectively while sparing the constituents they protect the obligation of extravagant compensation.

It's amazing, is all it is.

Keyword: The Jax Files, for Tom Jackson's bonus insights.

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