By MIKE FLETCHER
Patrolling the streets of Greentown is like walking through a neighborhood for town marshal Jeff Bennett.
“Greentown is like one big neighborhood,” said Bennett from his small, but quaint office in the middle of town. “It’s like a neighborhood because everybody knows everybody and there’s a lot of close ties in this community.”
Some have even compared the small town of 2,546 residents to Mayberry, the home of Andy Griffith and Barney Fife, which is fine with Bennett.
“I don’t mind the comparisons,” he said. “When they talk about community policing, they [Andy and Barney] figured it out.”
Bennett has two deputies and three reserve officers at his side in case of trouble, but like Mayberry, crimes are few and far between and mainly consist of thefts, vandalism and mischief.
“It’s mainly property crimes,” he said. “But, I did get shot at once.
“The guy was looking for a suicide by cop.
“He didn’t want to hurt me, he wanted me to hurt him, but I said ‘no way.’”
Bennett was not hit in the early 1990’s incident and has no ill feelings toward the man, who has since been released from a hospital.
“He was a citizen of this community and still is,” Bennett said. “We see each other all the time and shake hands.”
Bennett said the incident did make him question being a cop, especially after the recent death of Dave Rich, a state trooper killed in a roadside shooting.
“We do that routinely,” he said of helping a stranded motorist, which is how Rich died. “It really makes you think.”
When he’s not trying to keep the peace in the town east of Kokomo, Bennett enjoys riding his motorcycle, spending time with his wife, Tammy, and two sons, Jeffrey Cole, 17, and Jordan, 16, and fishing along the Kokomo Reservoir.
Growing up in Burlington, Bennett began his career working part-time jobs and served as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician.
“I did that for a while,” he said of being an EMT.
He quickly left that job after the death of an infant he tried to resuscitate.
“I was doing CPR on a baby and afterward I said no more. The baby died of SIDS. I decided that’s something I didn’t want to do.”
After that, Bennett worked for the Kokomo Police Department in the dispatch center from 1984 until 1987, when he got a job as a deputy in Greentown.
He was appointed town marshal in 1998 after former Marshall Merrill Shrock retired.
“I’ve been here ever since.”
While he enjoys helping people, especially children, Bennett said he’s ready for a regular job outside of public service.
“I’m ready to get a real job. I spend a lot of time at Eastern High School and teach a vocation Bible study class, so maybe I’ll work for the school system. I have a lot of ideas.”
Mike Fletcher may be reached at (765) 454-8565 or via e-mail at mike.fletcher@kokomotribune.com
