Loss of a Hero

The Bellevue Police Department was devastated by the loss of one of our own on the morning of Saturday, November 18^th. Officer Chris Abbott had a medical emergency while at an event with his family. Despite early intervention by medical professionals, he did not survive this event. In honor of Chris, I thought it would be fitting to share a snapshot of Chris with everyone.

Chris was likely one of the most well-known officers on the Bellevue Police Department – not only because he spent over 22 years with BPD, but also because he spent many years participating in special events – as a member of the Special Services Division. Chris was front and center at all of our key events, including handing out food at National Night Out, teaching at our Citizen’s Academy, baiting hooks at Cops and Bobbers, or shopping with kids at Holiday Heroes – just to name a few.

Having said that, the key event for the year on his calendar was always the Holiday Heroes Chili Cook-Off. Chris took pride in taking a lead role in this event – raising money to fund the Holiday Heroes (Shop-with-a-cop type event). Chris would personally raise thousands of dollars in donations for the event, and for many years even cooked the chili to represent the police department. His competitive side showed through at this event, as he never wanted to lose – especially to the fire department.

Chris was involved in many things within the department throughout his career, most notably (recently) were his roles as a Field Training Officer (FTO), as an Honor Guard (HG) Member, and as an Accident Reconstructionist on the Crash Team. 

• As an FTO, Chris had the opportunity to train a large number of the recruit officers entering the department. He took pride in preparing officers to serve, while holding them to the ‘Bellevue standard’.
• As an HG member, he always wanted to ensure that the mission was completed by the manual, and that we always put our best foot forward for whatever the cause was we were representing.
• As a Crash Team member, Chris was counted on to keep the equipment ready, and was a go-to when crash expertise was needed.

One thing about Chris that many people don’t know, is that he was one of only a handful of BPD Officers to ever receive the Purple Heart for being injured in the line of duty, and the Medal of Valor. In 2005, he received the Officer of the Quarter award for the events that led to him receiving the Medal of Valor. As Lieutenant Keith Bader wrote in the memo to Chief John Stacey at the time; “Officer Abbott’s quick and decisive action during an incident in which a fellow officer was being drug by a vehicle… prevented the other officer from being killed or more seriously injured.” During that same time period, Chris and fellow Officer Carl Grubb, were also recognized for saving the life of a despondent party who was attempting to jump from the Bellevue Bridge.

Although he took great pride in helping make up the backbone of the BPD, his true love was his family. He was always proud to discuss his wife Amie and his two boys, and would light up when doing so. They were the center of his world.

A distant second was his love for Iowa State University football. As a fellow University of Northern Iowa alumni, I would often razz him about cheering for the Cyclones – to which he would always say ‘he liked the Panthers too’ (but I always knew where his loyalties were – with the Clones).

Chris was one of the good ones. He had an innate ability to make you laugh, and put a smile on everyone’s face. 24/7/365 he was there, had your back, and would give you the shirt off of his back. He will be missed.