PORT NECHES — In a career field where about half of the workforce quits, some are fired and others commit suicide, Jerry Bowden could be considered a rarity.

In his 41 years as a peace officer in both Louisiana and Texas, Bowden has been shot twice and stabbed. He’s been pinned between two cars while helping an elderly stranded motorist, witnessed a gunned down and killed and was part of a group of officers who took down the notorious New Orleans’ Howard Johnson’s killer, Mark Essex.

Later this month Bowden, currently a detective with the Port Neches Police Department, will hang up his badge for retirement with plans to complete his master degree and either find a job as a chief of police or teach at a university.

Port Neches Police Chief Paul Lemoine has worked with Bowden for a number of years and offered some insight into the what it’s like to work with the veteran officer.

“You never knew what to expect from Jerry,” Lemoine said. “Working with a guy that has been in a police car for 40 years and worked for two different states, you knew that he had probably seen it al. It was comforting to know that if something weird came up, he had probably seen it before.”

While working in New Orleans, Bowden was one of 1,800 cops on the street, he said. From 1968 to 1974, the SWAT team member was assigned to high crime area patrol and enforcement including two precincts, several housing projects and the French Quarter.

He then went on to work for the Louisiana State Police, serving as a state police undercover narcotics agent, among other responsibilities.

Bowden followed in the career steps of his grandfathers, he said, who were walking “beat cops” in England. His father was an officer in Memphis, Tenn. and both his brothers were in law enforcement as well. Even some uncles are deputy sheriff’s in Tennessee.

But the hard core cop has a sense of humor as well as being straight to he point, just ask Lemoine.

“Jerry is always fun to be around and you could expect the unexpected from him,” he said. “And he has a way of talking to people that is blunt and to the point but also is compassionate.”

Bowden recalled the day his partner was shot in the line of duty.

“It was Dec. 12, 1969,” Bowden begins. “We had a call about 11:30 p.m. of gunfire. There were two burglars involved. My partner was driving that night and I was able to grab one guy. My partner chased the other guy then I heard gunfire. When I got there the suspect had been killed but my partner was acting strange. I told him, hey, it’s Dec. 12, you’ll be off work for Christmas,’ and he said ‘they got me good.’ I looked at his sleeve and there was blood on his arm patch. When he lifted his arm I saw the other wound.”

A bullet had pierced his partners heart, he said. Since then Bowden has served as a police honor guard in remembrance of his partner and other fallen officers.

While Bowden, like other officers, rely on their sense of humor as a sort of emotional cushion to help get through seeing vehicular fatalities and other such tragedies. There are two instances where Bowden wasn’t able to cover grief with humor.

While standing with another officer in Washington, D.C.’s Judiciary Square and preparing for the short walk to the wreath emblem in honor of fallen Beaumont Police Officer Conrad Gernale, Bowden noticed a young boy with his head leaned on the large columns.

The child uttered once hushed sentence that reverberated through the crowd — “his is all really nice but I’d like to have my dad back.”

In December 2006, Bowden worked the scene of a car wreck where a mother and daughter were killed by a suspected drunk driver.

Rowena Dupuis, 52, died at the scene, the daughter, Karmen, 17, died shortly after.

Bowden arrived minutes before the teen passed away, he said, adding “she was a good kid.”

“But no matter how good a police officer you are, there is always a higher up to answer to,” he said. “That’s where ethics are born. Ethics are the heart and soul of this business.

mmeaux@panews.com