PPD officer recalls "quiet strength" of Detective Mark Baker, killed in York County, Pennsylvania, shooting
It was more than 20 years ago that Jim Brady and Mark Baker came up together in the Philadelphia Police Highway Patrol. Both men, then early in their careers, would partner up from time to time. On Wednesday, as news broke of a shooting involving police in York County, Pennsylvania, Brady says his thoughts were with Baker.
"He told me, 'I'm going out to York to provide a better life for my kids and my wife,'" Brady, now a detective with the Philadelphia Police Shooting Investigations Division, said.
Baker was one of three Northern York County Regional Police Department officers who were killed in a shooting in North Codorus Township on Wednesday. Two other law enforcement officers were wounded, and the suspect was killed, in the shooting that investigators described as an "ambush."
Brady says he hasn't seen Baker since the funeral for Baker's former partner, Sgt. Pat McDonald, a Philadelphia Police officer killed in the line of duty in 2008. But Brady says he kept tabs and was "proud" to see Baker promoted to detective in the NYCRPD.
And there are things he'll always remember about the man he knew as they came up together in their early policing days.
"Mark just had this quiet strength about him," Brady said. "He was a big, physically imposing guy, but the epitome of a gentle giant."
Brady also recalled a specific memory. The two had partnered up for the shift and were discussing some of their favorite cases to work. Brady says Baker mentioned he liked to work DUI investigations.
"I kind of was like, 'Ughh, it's a ton of paperwork.' You're taken off the street for the rest of the tour,'" Brady said. "Sergeant's like, 'Where are you?' But Mark looked at me and he's like, 'The guy driving around drunk is most danger to my family, to your family, to everyone in this city. Like immediate danger. And I just want to get them off the street and make the street safer.'"
As communities continue to mourn the loss of these officers, some local groups are stepping in to help. That includes the Families Behind the Badge Children's Foundation.
"You know, it doesn't matter if it happens 100 miles west of here. Our community is in mourning," Jack Costello, associate director of the foundation, said.
Since 2007, the foundation, which is also behind the annual Ben to the Shore Bike Tour, has supported families of fallen officers in the immediate aftermath of tragedies.
The first step, they say, is financial support to help families with things like funeral arrangements or to simply take things off their plates. Foundation leaders say they are now working on providing funds to the families in York County.
But foundation officials say an equally big part of their work has been building a network of people who have been through similar incidents, who can provide support and comfort to these families.
"We can't understand, but we can put them in a position where they can meet other people that do understand," Mark O'Connor, the foundation's executive director, said. "It's great that they then have a family of survivors that understand what they're going through."
The foundation also has a mission to connect police officers with kids, primarily from underserved communities, to, as they say, "change the dynamic" and how children can feel about police officers.
Their "Cover Your Six" initiative is also something they say they'd be happy to provide to first responders following the York County shooting. It's the foundation's mission to provide mental health and well-being resources to first responders and families in the wake of tragedies. Officials say the goal is to teach coping mechanisms and ways to de-stress.
"They're the ones helping people. They're going to be the last ones to ask for help," Costello said. "So we want to make sure they have the tools where they can cope."
"The city of York, city of Philadelphia, they took a tremendous loss," Brady said.