Dallas Detective's Book Features Stories of Those Who Died in the Line of Duty
Ken [NY
of Duty
Dallas, TX - 3/11/2002
Dallas Morning News
By DRAKE WITHAM
Like many Dallas police officers, Detective Brent Maudlin's knowledge
of the department's history once consisted mainly of the Kennedy
assassination, a book about those who had died in the line of duty and
a few tales passed down by senior officers.
Then the homicide detective became frustrated when he tried to find
out more about some of the department's heroes – officers who had
risked their lives to protect others.
His unsatisfied curiosity led him to write a book about some of those
heroes.
"I was just going to read up on it, and I realized there wasn't a
whole lot of data kept on it, so I started looking into it," Detective
Maudlin said. "The more I read, the more interested I became."
Detective Maudlin's Above and Beyond tells the stories of the 19
officers who have been awarded the department's Medal of Honor. The
only higher honor in the department is the Police Cross, which is
awarded to officers who have died in the line of duty.
In 1991 Dallas police Officer Steven Elwonger's book, In the Line of
Duty, chronicled the stories of Dallas police who had been killed.
Detective Maudlin, 35, said he picked up where his fellow officer left
off.
The department began presenting the Medals of Honor after World War
II, when veterans lobbied the department to recognize the good work of
officers with more than a handshake and a pat on the back, Detective
Maudlin said.
"A lot of that history was not saved. It seems it was just shoved into
boxes and forgotten about," Detective Maudlin said. "I don't think
people realized how important it would be to future generations."
Turning the material into a book while working his regular shifts in
the robbery unit and then in homicide was tougher than he had
imagined.
He spent countless hours digging through old police newsletters,
microfilmed newspaper articles and documents he obtained from the
Police Department through open records requests.
The extra work was nothing new to Detective Maudlin, said Sgt. Leticia
Corral, his supervisor in the robbery unit for three years.
"He's very good at documenting his cases," she said. "He doesn't leave
a leaf unturned. He just doesn't give up, and that's what he had to do
with his research here."
Detective Maudlin credits Sgt. Corral with getting him in touch with
Senior Cpl. Verna Durden, who had a list of the winners, and giving
him a push toward writing the book.
"I was talking to her about maybe doing it, and she picked up the
phone and called Verna," he said. "Then she started telling everybody
that I was writing a book, so at that point I had to do it."
Police files provided detailed accounts written by some of the
officers and letters that their supervisors had submitted when the
officers were being considered for the awards.
Among the stories he discovered was that of Officer William Grinnell,
who earned the department's first Medal of Honor in 1950.
Officer Grinnell, who helped stop a gang on a multistate crime spree,
is featured on the cover of Detective Maudlin's book, holding a
shotgun over a suspect who had just been arrested.
Seconds after the picture was taken, the arrested man reached under
the car, grabbed a gun and tried to shoot the officer. Officer
Grinnell stopped the man.
The book includes details about the two officers who crossed paths
with Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963 – the officer who was killed by him and
the one who arrested him.
The most recent Medal of Honor recipient, Senior Cpl. Scott Transou,
is featured in the last chapter. The book details how the officer
captured a robber who had shot him downtown in May 1999.
The gunman's bullet ricocheted off the officer's badge, so he was not
seriously injured. As he was being treated in an ambulance, he spotted
the gunman and arrested him.
Detective Maudlin's mother, Della, who is a former English teacher,
helped him proofread an early draft of the book.
She said she was surprised that he had become an author, but she never
expected him to become a police officer, either.
"We're all just so proud of him, and I was astounded by the amount of
research he had to do," she said. "I'm thrilled to death for him. I
always thought I wanted to write a book, and now my son is a published
author."
Ken (NY)
--
Chairbeing,
Department of Redundancy Department
Assistant Grand Poobah, Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
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