“Wow, did you see that?”
I asked that of the high school police explorer who was riding with me for a few hours last week in the evening hours on swing shift, after I saw a brilliant bright light in the sky to my left, out the driver’s window. It was like a falling star, only it had an intensity that I’ve never seen before. It paralleled the sky and seemed to fall to earth. It was really a cool sight, but strange at the same time.
My partner hadn’t seen it. She kept asking where I had seen it, but the sky had already returned to darkness. She thought I was seeing things. I listened to my dispatch channel, and to the police scanner, for reports of the strange light in the sky. There were none. I thought I was seeing things.
I turned on the am radio in the car to listen for news reports of a meteor being sighted, or maybe of the military launching a rocket in the area, but there was no news. Nothing! I chalked it up to being one of those things you catch a glimpse of but can’t explain. Apparently no one had seen it except for me. I was apparently wrong.
At least two other people saw that awesome spectacle that night. As I heard them speak about it publicly a week later, I began to cry.
One of the two people that had seen that bright light in the sky, was the younger brother of Slain Police Officer Bill Bean of the Sacramento California police department. Officer Bean had just been fatally shot and killed while making a high-risk vehicle stop following a short chase.
Billy’s brother told us in the eulogy, that his family had just received the word that Billy had just been killed in the line of duty. With feelings of terror, fright, rage, and shock, Bill’s brother looked up at the sky to ask God “why”, and at that very second, he saw that brilliant light in the sky. As Billy’s brother explained it, “It was like a shooting star, only brighter than any I’ve ever seen before.” “I knew that it was a message from my brother, that he was in Heaven with God.” “It was Billy’s way of letting me know he was all right, that he was with God.”
The other person who had seen that light that night, was one of Bill’s partners who was involved in the manhunt for the suspect who had fled the scene on foot. They had searched non-stop for several hours with no success. When you are involved in a hunt for a cop killer you only have one thing on your mind. The feelings and emotions of involved family members are strong and unparalleled, only to those felt by brother and sister officers.
When a fellow officer goes down we feel the same pain as the family. Maybe worse…Working in that occasional dark side of society together, we form closeness with each other, unlike any other profession. When Bill Bean took that bullet we ALL felt it. Every Sacramento cop and every other cop who was on duty that night who responded to that 11-99 call felt it worse. Much worse.
It’s hard to control the anger and rage that goes through your mind. The only ending you will accept is to have the cowardly suspect taken into custody. One way or another…
No other options will work. Non negotiable!
Time is important. The more time that goes by without a capture takes away hope. Hope taken away is filled with frustration and despair. I know what those cops were thinking because I’ve been there myself. “We have to get this guy, we have to get him for Billy.”
After a couple hours of searching with negative results, one of Bill’s partners who was searching for the suspect, took a moment and looked towards the sky as if asking God for help.
At that very second he saw that brilliant light in the sky almost directly overhead. The same light that Billy’s brother was watching at the same time which told him that Billy was with God. The same light at the same time that I saw from a hundred miles away, which had no meaning to me at the time, but has so much meaning for me now…
Billy’s partner told us in the eulogy, that it was such an unusual sight, it seemed to him to be a signal. A signal from Billy saying “Don’t give up guys, you’re so close, keep at it, you’re almost there!”
Forty-five minutes later those cops found the suspect hiding in bushes and he was taken into custody without incident. Forty-five minutes after the signal in the sky was seen by only a few. The signal from the Cop they called Billy Bean.
What really impressed me at the service, was the over-whelming emotion for this 28-year old man who had made such a tremendous impact upon his community. He wasn’t remembered just as Officer Bean. He was remembered as Bill Bean Jr.
Anybody’s best friend first.
Police Officer second.
In this day and age it is difficult to find the family love and support that Billy grew up with. It was evident at his service. I can’t remember the last time that I’ve ever seen such a strong pillar of strength as I did in Billy’s mom. She spoke of the pride she had in her son not just because of his profession, but because of whom he was as a person.
Billy’s father became emotional; telling us that no matter where they were at Billy always had a big hug and a kiss for him along with a “Love Ya Dad!” At the golf course parking lot or wherever, Billy always let those around him know he cared with open emotions.
His brothers spoke of him with admiration and pride. Billy’s youngest brother told us that when it’s his turn to go to Heaven, he will be proud to still be known as “Billy’s little brother”, even up there.
Billy was remembered by Family, Friends, and Fellow Officers as having a million-dollar smile. The kind of guy who could walk into a room and light the place up! He was a motivator, a Saint, and a Hero, but not just because of what he did as a profession. Because of who he was as a person.
So where are we going with this story? Is it about an Officers death? Is it about a strange sight in the sky whose meaning was explained a week later? No, It’s about you.
Everything that you do in life reflects who you are to everyone around you. Everything!
The way you walk, talk, dress, and who you hang out with. How you drive a car on the streets, how you perform at work, what you do when others aren’t around, the language you use. How you parent your kids. How you treat your parents. The choices that YOU make in YOUR life. It all paints a picture of you and who you really are. You HAVE A CHOICE in painting the picture of yourself that will be represented to others. And no one else will paint that picture except for you.
I’ll go into this in more detail at a later time but I can’t stop thinking of one thing that is so ironic in all of this. A special and close friend (that I will always think the world of) let me borrow the movie “Brave Heart”. I had never seen it while it was out in the theaters. One saying from the movie went through my head again and again as I watched the movie.
“Every man dies, not every man really lives. ”
That same phrase went through my head as I stood for 3 hours and listened to the life stories belonging to the young man they called Billy Bean.
Billy Bean really lived. He lived the lifetimes of 5 men. It was evident as the 3-mile long vehicle procession drove its way up H.W. 80 to the cemetery. Forty mile an hour winds and heavy rain pouring down didn’t keep people from coming out and letting the family of Bill Bean know what he meant to them.
All along the procession route citizens’ came out and stood at attention, saluted, or held their hats over their hearts. Every overpass had crowds of people waving, crying, and holding signs thanking Billy. Fire trucks, Ambulances, even Tow trucks plastered every freeway overpass and on ramp with their crews standing at attention. The impact was overwhelming to the cops inside the hundreds and hundreds of police cars from all over California that drove past in single file with their red and blue lights on.
Every man dies, not every man really lives.
Everything that we do in life is our choice. When its your turn to look back and reflect upon your life are you going to smile with satisfaction because you truly lived right, or will you look back and wished you had done things differently because you realized that you hadn’t lived life at all?
Billy’s mom reminded us that life could be way too short. We never know when we may leave this world without having the chance to say good bye. If you need to change some things in your life, you need to do it now.
We can’t count on tomorrow’s…
Billy said different things to different people on that night, by way of a brilliant blazing shooting star. I didn’t know what it meant at the time but I do now, and I thank Billy for making me look up to the stars at that very moment…that star reflected your life my brother….
“Brighter and more Brilliant than the rest.”
Billy, we miss you but your spirit lives strong amongst the stars. Thank you for what you gave to us in 28 short years.
Anybody’s best friend first…
Police Officer second…
“Word!”
Jim Lambert
