BlueLivesMatterBY COWGIRL
According to Fox12 Oregon, Chief Randy Gibson died after going into respiratory arrest during a high-stress incident/arrest. He began to feel ill during the arrest and drove himself to a local hospital, where he was treated, according to Officer Down Memorial Page. He was discharged from the hospital at his own request, and returned home, where he died a short time later.
In a Facebook post, the Kalama Police Department said “Chief Gibson’s professionalism and integrity serves as an example to each of us who were fortunate enough to be a colleague or co-worker of his. We thank him for his service.” He was commended for bringing leadership, respect, and stability to an agency that had previously had three Police Chiefs in the past 17 years. Kalama Mayor Pete Poulsen said that Chief Gibson strengthened hiring and training practices for Kalama Police Officers, and that he restored a lost sense of pride within the agency. He was the current chairman of the Cowlitz Association of Sheriff and Police Chiefs.
Kalama Police Department Police Chief Randy Gibson had served with the agency for six years, since October, 2011. He had previously served as a Lieutenant with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri for 20 years. He is survived by his wife Dawn. According to The Daily News, Police Chief Gibson was in charge of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, and was an Instructor at the Drury University Law Enforcement Academy in Springfield and the Missouri Sheriffs’ Training Academy. Kalama residents called him “a cop’s cop”.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Chief Gibson was being treated for cancer but doctors stated that his death was caused by complications from the high-stress arrest, so it is being treated as a line of duty death. No further details have been released about the stressful arrest that Police Chief Gibson was involved in.
We send our thoughts and prayers to the family of fallen Kamala Police Chief Randy Gibson, both blood and blue. Godspeed, sir, we will take it from here. Thank you for your service.