• Login
• My Profile
• Help

Search

Products Police Products Accident Reconstruction AEDs AFIS Ammunition Antennas Apparel Badges Bags and Cases Ballistic Shields Batons Bicycles Biometrics Body Armor Books and Training Materials CAD Cameras Cargo Storage Collectibles Communications Communications Interoperability Computer Forensics Concealable Armor Consoles Correctional Armor Corrections Products Crime Scene Investigation Crisis Communications Data/Information Sharing Software Dispatch Equipment DNA Forensics Duty Boots Duty Gear Emergency Lighting Emergency Preparedness Emergency Response Emergency Response Software EOD Evidence Management Eyewear False Alarm Management Financial Services Firearm Accessories Firearms Firearms Storage Fitness Flashlights Footwear For Cops, By Cops Forensic Supplies Gas Masks GIS/Mapping Software Gloves Gun Cleaning Gun Racks Handguns Headsets Helmets Holsters In Car Video Investigation Investigation Software Jail Management K9 Police Training K9 Products Knives Laser Traffic Enforcement Less Lethal License Plate Readers Light Bars Medical Supplies Mics Mobile Computers Mobile Data Motorcycle Accessories and Gear Motorcycles Mounts Night Vision Outerwear P25 Radios Partitions and Barriers Patrol Cars Personal Protective Equipment Personal Shields Personal Transportation Vehicles Police Robots Power Distribution Precision Rifle Prisoner Transport Projectiles and Launchers Public Safety Software Public Venue Protection Push Bumper Radar Radio/Wireless Networks Radios Report Writing Software Restraints Riot Gear RMS Satellite Communications Scheduling Search and Rescue Secure Communications Shooting Range Equipment Shotguns Sights and Scopes Simulation Software Sirens Software Specialty Vehicles Sprays and Aerosols Storage Surveillance Tactical Apparel Tactical Armor Tactical Entry Tactical Eyewear Tactical Footwear Tactical Headsets Tactical Medical / TEMS Tactical Products Tactical Video TASER Technology Thermal Imaging Traffic Enforcement Training Training Gear Training Products Training Services Training Simulators Undercover Undergear Uniforms Vehicle Equipment Vehicle Graphics Vehicles Video Analysis Video Surveillance Weapon Lights Wire Tap Systems Wireless Communications Wireless Handsets Wireless Networking WMD Equipment

• PoliceOne Email

Sponsors

Health - Physical and Mental Fitness Resources

7th Annual 911 Fitness Challenge Central Florida Police Stress Unit, Inc. Heavy Badge Law Enforcement Wellness Association, Inc. National Police Support Network, Inc. More Links Submit A Listing

Featured Product Categories

Apparel RMS False Alarm Management WMD Equipment Vehicle Equipment View All Categories

Health - Physical and Mental Fitness Products

Related Product Categories:

Fitness

Tactical Medical / TEMS

Featured Product:

New Book: SWAT Fitness from OpTac International

Health - Physical and Mental Fitness Article

May 16, 2007

EmailPrintTalk BackRegisterRSSWhat's This

Colo. officer haunted by near-save

By IVAN MORENO
Rocky Mountain News

DENVER, Colo. — Denver police officer Jairon Katz is haunted by the image of the youth slipping from his grip as floodwaters swept them down a creek.

"He had a hold of the kid," Michael Katz said Tuesday, recalling his son's effort to save the youth from the rushing water that almost claimed them both.

With his vest and boots still on, Jairon Katz jumped into Goldsmith Gulch on Monday night after two people told him that someone was in the water.

The urge to take action came naturally to the former Wheat Ridge firefighter and aspiring movie stuntman who became a police officer for the "satisfaction of making things right," his father said.

"Instead of reading about it the next day, he got in the water," Michael Katz said.

The officer only took time to remove his gun belt before entering the water.

Jairon Katz had been trained in water rescue, his father said.

"It was an amazing coincidence in that sense. I don't know that anyone would've fared any better," Michael Katz said.

His son was able to get a hold of the youth at one point, but they were pulled apart after hitting something, Michael Katz said.

After they were separated, Jairon Katz, too, was overwhelmed by the currents in the gulch near East Yale Avenue and South Quebec Street.

Michael Katz said his son told him that the cold water numbed his hands and legs.

Fellow officers pulled Jairon Katz from the water, but the youth, whose name and age are unknown, remains missing.

Jairon Katz, a 3-year-veteran of the Denver Police Department, was treated for hypothermia at Denver Health and was released.

The 30-year-old officer declined to be interviewed Tuesday. Michael Katz said his son is fine, except for bruises and the relentless lament of having been so close to saving a life.

"He was almost successful," Michael Katz said. "I'm sure that bothers him a great deal.

"He says that when they find him (the youth), he's going to be even more bummed. It'll bring it home to him when they find the body that he wasn't able to save him."

Copyright 2007 Rocky Mountain News

Back to previous page