Dedication, Persistence and Patience

As I was reading through a random selection of tweets last week I noticed one from Washington State Representative Dave Reichert (@davereichert) mentioning that it was "Police Week" - a time to honor those that serve and protect us day in and day out.  In reading that, especially from Rep. Reichert, I immediately thought of my Dad, Tom Jensen, who has served in law enforcement for the last 30+ years, 25 of which have been dedicated to single case, The Green River Murders.  For all you Gen X and Y'rs our there can you imagine a) working for the same "company" for 30 yrs and b) on the same project (or case)?  In this day and age, it is unheard of.  However, for my dad it was necessary...necessary to see something through to it's completion, necessary to bring closure to families, necessary to help reassure the public that they are safe.  I can think of no better example of Making It Happen then my dad and his effort on this case that has been his career.

 

Like many people, including myself, my dad has his "quirks."  I think the hat he was given with the initials E.C. on it (which stands for Endearingly Crabby) a few years ago while working on the Green River case, pretty much sums it up.  That's just who he is.  Behind that however, is a person that was dedicated to his job, understood his role, and pushed forward amidst adversity, uncertainty, frustration, and near failure to help solve the most prolific serial murder case in the history of the United States.  For 11 years (1990-2001), he was the only Full Time resource on this "unsolvable" case.  He had every opportunity to give up, move on, and do something different.  Instead he persisted and patiently went through every tip and every piece of evidence, until there was finally a breakthrough.  DNA Technology had finally caught up and in processing a final piece of evidence, they were able to make a match.  In 2001, after all those years of uncertainty and frustration, he helped make the arrest of Gary Ridgeway.  It took another couple years to bring the case to trial, conviction, and final closure for families of the victims, and in that process, my Dad was again right in the thick of it doing everything he could to ensure that all the families and the public were served.

All of this hard work, dedication, persistence, and patience finally came in the form of formal recognition a few weeks ago when my dad was awarded the King County Employee of the Year for 2009.  Knowing my Dad this is not something that he wants a lot of attention on, and he will be the first to give a lot of credit to other involved, but I know he deserves it and he should be very proud for what he has accomplished.  He has definitely Made It Happen!  Since the case has been closed, my Dad still continues to serve, applying his skills to try and solve Cold Cases in the State of Washington...and trying to Make It Happen again.

P.S. - Stay tuned for another "Make It Happen" post down the road as my brother is working on a graphic novel that tells my Dad's story.  Here is an interview with him talking about what to expect.