OTTAWA, Kan. — We often hear about how the law enforcement community is like a family. On Wednesday, the Franklin County sheriff told KSHB 41 that's true.
Just as you celebrate someone joining your family, you have to hold each other up when someone leaves the family, too.
For them, it's about faith, understanding and support — in the everyday routine and now, as the Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office mourns the death of Deputy Elijah Ming.
Faith guides Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Richards in everything he does, and he wears it on his sleeve.
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He showed us a new tattoo on his arm with an angel and the words "Psalm 91."
"Psalm 91 talks about God's protection, and it says he will command his angels concerning you," Richards said.
After Ming's death, Richards wanted to show the Wyandotte County sheriff and his staff that they also have the protection from their brothers and sisters of the badge.
"I wanted to pray over him that he would remember where his strength comes from," Richards said.
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Richards and about six other members of his office, along with folks from the Miami County and Linn County sheriff's offices, made the drive to Ming's memorial on Tuesday. They gathered in a circle and said a prayer.
"For us to be there for him to let him know, we get it, and your time for grieving is going to come, you're going to need somebody, and here we are," Richards said. "And I think that's very important."
Lt. Brian Ferguson was also there. He spoke about the importance of peer support.
"One of the things it does help with is having someone by your side who's been through what you've been through," Ferguson said. "[Someone] you can talk to; you can lean on them, they can lean on you."
Richards and Ferguson came to the memorial also thinking about their own line-of-duty death in 2010, when they lost Deputy Sam Smith, who was 22.
"Last week was the anniversary of his death, so those types of things were already on our mind," Richards said.
Smith crashed his car while on his way to a domestic disturbance call, which somewhat mirrors the circumstances under which Ming was killed.
It's with this mutual understanding that Richards said they'll continue the support — not just today but always.
"Law enforcement is a pretty tight-knit community, and if we can't be there to support one another, we did something wrong," Richards said.
Richards said one of his deputies was in the same academy class as Ming, so it's hitting that deputy a little differently.
"There are always connections," Richards said.
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