True Police
Stories
"Courage is the ability to move;
when all around you are frozen in fear
and no one would blame you if you did nothing at all."
Capt. Click. Phx. PD
My Name is Kevin Kazmaier
Taken from the book Think
About it... for your reading convenience
I’m at a loss for words in how to start this assignment. It is a humbling
experience for me and an
honor to be a small part of this book. Most people call me “Kaz”, a nickname
that has followed me
throughout my life. My background is very different than other LDS police
officers that I’ve come
to know. I feel ashamed, for the most part, that my early upbringing without the
gospel has left many
rough edges on me which constantly come forth without much provocation. I was
raised by a very
authoritative father, who I was scared of in my youth. He was an alcoholic and
was not a pleasant
person when drinking, which of course meant most of the time. I sometimes feel
that my being a
police officer comes from my own drive to have that same authority that I was
scared of in my youth.
I was not raised with the word of wisdom, family prayer, scripture reading or
attending church
regularly, but I have always been blessed in my life.
That I know for certain. And know now that my Heavenly Father has always looked
out for me and
has always loved me. It is a miracle that I became a police officer. I truly
think that Heavenly Father
has something for me to accomplish in this life that apparently involves this
work that we’ve chosen.
I have been in law enforcement for fifteen years. For three of those years I was
not LDS and fit quite
well into the worldly activities of strong drink and good cheer. I have many
police officer friends who
knew me in my PG days (pre-gospel days) and who have said to me,
“Kaz, I never believed you’d be a Mormon.”
I’ve often laughed to myself when this is said
and hope that I can say that to them someday.
My life as a police officer started when I was twenty-nine years of age, which
by some measure seems
old, but my life experience in those prior years helped me to understand a lot
of different people and
a lot of different life styles. These experiences have helped me understand
people, and now with the
gospel, has hopefully given me a truer understanding of life’s ups and downs. I
was first introduced
to the gospel by a reserve officer by the name of Randy. He was an unusual
person who was LDS and
didn’t mind my cigarettes, coffee and foul mouth. He rode with me and we had
many wonderful talks
about life, God and why we were here on earth. I will always be grateful to
Randy for his love of a
fellow human, no matter what his circumstances in life were at the time.
I know I have a special gift given to me that I hope
will always guide me in this career, this being the Holy Ghost.
I remember an experience, prior to being LDS, that will always be with me. I was
enroute to work
when an older man was brought to my attention and I looked over to see him
sitting at a business that
had closed for the day. This man looked old and tired and in need of something
or someone. It was
1530 in the afternoon and there was a Circle K store across the street from
where he was, with people
everywhere, so I didn’t think much of it. I continued to work and found that my
assignment was to
ride the Teleserve Desk that evening (not an exciting assignment). There was a
lot of excitement
around the station when I came in, it being 1600. They were assigning areas to
search to several beat
cars because an elderly man had walked away from a retirement home. For some
reason it hit me that
the man by the business was that man. I told several people that I thought I saw
the subject at the
closed business and everyone told me the same thing. This was an old man that
couldn’t have walked
that far.
You see, it was over fourteen miles from where he had left
“and no one that old could do that,” I was told.
I let them talk me out of the Holy Ghost’s prompting.
I got off work that next morning and went a different route home, by now,
forgetting about the man
and the closed business. I remember going to work the next day and someone
saying that they had
found the old man early the next morning. He had died by the business where I
had seen him the night
before. I knew after joining the Church that the sweet gift of the Holy Ghost
had tried unsuccessfully
to communicate with me in that earlier experience. I have been truly thankful to
know that I have this
marvelous gift with me that will guide and direct me, keep me safe and protect
me as I work.
I have worked many assignments in my career in law enforcement. I would have to
say that probably
the most exciting times I have had in this career were in an undercover
capacity. This definitely was
not the most ideal assignment for an LDS Saint, but most definitely a chance to
see modern day
Gadianton Robbers at their best. I’ve bought drugs, stolen property, guns,
busted down doors in
search warrants, arrested homicide suspects, arrested bank robbers as they left
the bank, sat in
showers of residences while burglars robbed the place, watched car thieves steal
Mercedes, disarmed
live explosive devices and watched attractive young women sell their bodies for
heroin. All of these
experiences have allowed me to see human beings at their worst and yet, how much
love Heavenly
Father has for them. It is difficult at times to have a positive outlook on life
while witnessing these
events happen to so many people. Police officers become cold and heartless at
times, seeing these
events and watching helpless victims suffer because of thoughtless acts of individuals.
I can testify to you that in many of my experiences,
I have felt the Spirit of the Lord speak to my heart and direct my actions.
I’ve had many a quiet prayer to myself on search warrants involving heavily
armed suspects and with
other officers when we’ve worked on suspected bombs and explosives. It is
probably one of the safest
feelings to have as an officer, to work next to another LDS officer. The
scripture, “For where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”
(Matthew 18:20) often
comes to mind. I have asked several in my career to have a silent prayer as we
attempted to do
dangerous assignments.
I have been blessed to use the priesthood on two special occasions in my work.
The first time was
in Huntsville, Alabama at Red Stone Arsenal. I was attending the FBI Army Bomb
School for new
bomb technicians. It was a month long school involving every aspect of explosive
training there was,
with the best safety precautions in place. It was the final day of practical
exercises that we would do
to become certified. I was working with a state trooper from Delaware and a
deputy sheriff from San
Jose. During the exercise, a one in a million accident occurred. I had just
switched places with Dave,
the state trooper. We were taping down a water cannon to disrupt a suspect pipe
bomb. While taping
down the water cannon the cannon functioned, hitting Dave in the chest and
causing ear damage to
my left ear drum. As I observed Dave go backwards in slow motion, I was not sure
what had
happened. We were at a military firing range ten to fifteen miles away from
anything. After Dave hit
the ground, I opened his airway and pulled up his shirt to find his sternum to
start CPR. It was at this
time I saw that Dave had been struck directly over the heart and CPR was not an
option. I had been
a member of the Church for less than a year and knew that I needed to give Dave
a priesthood
blessing.
I administered my blessing, commanding that by the power of the priesthood, Dave
would be OK.
I don’t believe I had given anyone, except my wife, a blessing before and I was
not sure I was worthy
or knew the correct procedure. Dave passed away as he was being transported to
the hospital. The
doctor stated that the sack surrounding the heart had burst upon impact of the
water cannon and
Dave would not have survived anyway. I felt extremely downtrodden, wondering why
we had
changed spots prior to the accident and questioning my priesthood abilities and
worthiness.
I cannot divulge the very personal, spiritual experience that I had that night,
however, I can testify to you that I know that Dave is okay.
And the accident was meant to be.
And it occurred as it was to have occurred.
On another occasion we had a homicide at a local bar. The other units of our
team had located a
possible apartment and vehicle belonging to the shooter. I was assigned to the
surveillance location.
This was considered an easy surveillance, only to have to sit on the suspect’s
vehicle until the
detectives could draw up a search warrant. As I got within several miles of the
complex, I heard
scattered radio transmissions that an officer was down at the location and that
shots had been fired.
I got to the complex finding a fellow officer down, unconscious and with major
head injuries, caused
by the suspect hitting the officer with his car, then running over his
mid-section as he was leaving the
scene. I once again knew that I needed to give a priesthood blessing. I did so,
calling upon our
Heavenly Father to heal the officer’s head injuries and to allow him to live.
Later that evening, I was
honored by fellow officers when they asked me to lead them in prayer at the
hospital. These were not
LDS officers but we all knew that prayer was the answer to what doctors called a
life threatening
head injury.
Authors note: Bill (the officer down) said he was told that he died once at the
scene and once on the table. Both times, his system completely shutdown. He said
he doesn’t
remember that, but he does remember that twice, his great grandfather appeared
to him and told
him, “You gotta go back Billy boy. It’s not your time.” The second time he
merely said, “Bill, you
gotta go back.” Bill was told other things by his grandfather that Bill didn’t
know and Bill’s father
later confirmed. Bill’s neurologist, a doctor by the name of Hugh, at Scottsdale
Memorial
Hospital, told him, “Bill, from everything I know, from everything I’ve read,
you should have
died.” Bill replied, “Doc, It wasn’t my time. God was working through your hands
to save my
life.” His doctor nodded his head and replied, “That’s the only way I can
explain it.”
(Continuing)
I remember hearing from the family that the doctors were amazed at the
miraculous healing of the
injuries. It wasn’t until years later that I learned that the officer, who had
to medically retire because
of the injuries, had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I
testify to you that I know
I’m fortunate to have found this Church and to be blessed with the priesthood
and to be able to
associate with other officers who share my beliefs. I cannot tell of all the
experiences I have had,
where I know that I have been helped by the whisperings of the Holy Ghost,
because there are so
many. I am by no means perfect and never expect to be compared to other officers
of this faith. I am
thankful for a good wife who loves me in spite of my weaknesses and stains that
this career brings
with it,
and for a loving Heavenly Father who has given me
the ultimate sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.
It is only by His love and grace
that I have been spared death or permanent injuries.
I testify to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
Sergeant Kevin Kazmaier Badge #6450
If you are or were a police officer,
soldier, fireman
or wife, mother, father of such or some other branch of emergency
personnel
and would like to share an unusual testimony building experience with
others,
please contact us for details at
Samuel@ldscops.com
or use the link on the front page of this site at
www.LDSCOPS.com
Thank you and God bless,