April 18, 2007
Editorial

Departing Deputy A Loss

The old saw claims that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

The county is about to experience that with the departure of Maribah Cowley, a longtime deputy with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

Cowley, the first female patrol sergeant for the department, has been handling child sexual assault cases for the LCSO for over a decade, in addition to her other duties over the last 15 years as the head of the jail, the department’s first school resource officer, and investigator.

Her job is one of the toughest to endure, and among the hardest to fill.

Working in law enforcement is always tough duty.

Nobody ever calls a cop with good news.

When someone dials 911, it’s usually to report some human trauma or tragedy.

That tragedy is compounded when it involves a child, particularly when it’s a sexual crime perpetrated by an adult that the child should have been able to trust.

The ability to get a traumatized young boy or girl to open up to another adult isn’t something you learn at the police academy, or pick up from a text book.

It takes experience and a special nature to develop that kind of trust, experience that takes time to cultivate.

Professionals who deal with child sexual assaults must have an amazing capacity for both ends of the spectrum:

Tenderness and kindness in order to garner the trust and begin the healing for a youngster who has been damaged by a sick adult, and a moral strength and emotional toughness to continue working effectively in a field that is so heartbreaking.

Cowley is one of those rare individuals.

In the big city, everyone is just a replaceable cog in a noisy machine.

When it’s time to replace that cog, the large population provides a huge bin of new parts just waiting for a chance to supplant the old one.

In a small community like ours, there are no cogs.

There are only people, and not enough with the kinds of skills and experience necessary to ensure that the loss of such a person can go unfelt.

With Sheriff Lee trying to keep Cowley on board in some form or fashion, the transition will be easier.

But not easy.

You don’t replace someone like Sgt. Maribah Cowley.

And as Lincoln County will soon learn, we just don’t realize how fortunate we’ve been until the source of that good fortune goes away.

On behalf of the citizens, especially the weakest among us, the children, we offer Sgt. Cowley our deepest appreciation for her service to her community.