On Wednesday, May 2, in the town of Bethlehem, Trooper David Brinkerhoff was remembered as a hero.
Church bells rang as the beat of slow, heavy drums played outside Bethlehem Lutheran Church where services were held for the sixth state trooper to be killed in the line of duty in New York within the last 13 months.
Trooper Brinkerhoff was one of our best citizens, said Gov. Eliot Spitzer who attended the service alongside Lt. Gov. David Patterson and State Police Superintendent Preston Felton. `He embodied everything it means to be to be a great New Yorker and he reminds us of the incredible bravery of all officers,` said Spitzer.,
About 1,000 people attended the funeral inside the church. Another 4,000 to 5,000 police officers from as far away as California and as close to home as the Bethlehem police department stood in the church’s parking lot and along Elm Avenue.
`Dave was a very committed, very dedicated father, husband, and trooper and he truly will be missed,` said Bethlehem police Officer Rico Fiore, a friend of the fallen officer.
Fiore and Brinkerhoff first met at the officers’ police academy. They each enjoyed jet skiing and Fiore attended Brinkerhoff’s wedding at the Lutheran Church.
`It really hits home when someone as close as Dave is killed in the line of duty,` Fiore said. `I’m still in shock.`
Felton said Brinkerhoff is a true hero unlike the false celebrity hero worship that many in our society succumb to.
`David stood at the face of danger, not just this time but many times before,` said the emotional Felton, who said Brinkerhoff served all New Yorkers.
`He paid the highest price anyone can pay and his actions saved lives that day.`
Brinkerhoff leaves behind a wife, Barbara, and his 11-month-old daughter Isabella. In an open letter written for the church funeral program, Barbara Anne Brinkerhoff said David was her strength, her love, her best friend.
`I remember thinking how lucky Isabella and I were to have you in our lives,` wrote Barbara during the challenges the couple faced with mother and daughter’s health after their baby was born.
`You told me that team Brinkerhoff would get through this. You touched so many lives and I know you will always be with us and will protect us,` her letter read.
Investigator David Atkins knew Brinkerhoff before they both entered the police academy and were roommates living in Albany.
`He made me a better person,` said Atkins. `If he were still here he would tell me to pick my head up and be positive.`
Brinkerhoff was killed in the line of duty on Wednesday, April 25, by a bullet believed to have been shot by another officer in the MRT Elite Mobile Response Team that stormed a farmhouse in Margaretville, Delaware County, that day looking for 23-year-old shooting suspect Travis Trim. Brinkerhoff was shot once in the chest by Trim and once in the back of the head by a
.223 tactical round. Authorities believe the shot from Trim did not kill Brinkheroff, who was wearing a chest protector, but that a bullet from a state trooper’s weapon did.
Members of New Jersey state police, and officers from Rhode Island, California Highway Patrol, Canada, and Florida all attended the funeral for Brinkerhoff. He was 28 years old at the time of his death. Roads in the town of Bethlehem were sealed off for several hours the day of the funeral.
`We are family and we will get through this together,` said the pastor of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, the Rev. Mark Mueller.
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