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Plainfield (IL) Police Officer Martin van Heeswijk. van Heeswijk is a graduate student in the WIU School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration.
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"The Harlan Enterprise" article ("Deputy Shot from Ambush Near Smith") about WIU School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration Associate Professor Kim Dodson's grandfather, Berry Hensley.
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Berry Hensley
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Plainfield Police Officer Martin van Heeswijk's Law Enforcement Exploring Post, a career orientation and experience program for young people who may be interested in a law enforcement career.
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Duty Calls: Law Enforcement Faculty, Student Efforts Pay Off to Get Slain Officer Recognized

February 29, 2016

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MACOMB, IL — When Plainfield (IL) Police Officer Martin van Heeswijk decides to take on a project, failing to complete it doesn't seem to be an option. What's more, van Heeswijk tends to take on a lot of projects—all at once.

Currently a graduate student in the Western Illinois University School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration (LEJA), he is working to finish his thesis this semester, while also working full time as a police officer, as well as physically training to compete in Ironman athletic contests. In addition, through his department, he heads up an award-winning Law Enforcement Exploring Post, a career orientation and experience program for young people who may be interested in a law enforcement career.

"Through our Exploring Post, we teach the kids everything we do—how to talk on the radio for traffic stops, how to conduct building searches, hostage negotiation, first aid, you name it… If we do it, they do it," van Heeswijk explained. "I also take them on ride-alongs, and during the ride-alongs, I allow the kids to talk on the radio. When we make a traffic stop, they actually get to call in the traffic stop and clear it. They get a really hands-on experience, instead of just sitting in the class and watching me do everything."

In 2012, van Heeswijk made up his mind to run 14 marathons to raise money to help offset medical expenses for a 6 year-old girl who had leukemia. He completed them all.

So, in 2014, when he made up his mind to help Kim Dodson, an associate professor in the School of LEJA, petition to get her grandfather's name on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (NLEOM) in Washington, D.C.—a project she had been pursuing off and on since 1996—it was a done-deal in the making.

Persistent Pursuit

"My grandfather, Berry Hensley, was a deputy sheriff employed with the Harlan County Sheriff's Department in Harlan County (KY) in 1931. One night, according to family members, a man came to my grandfather's home and told him there was a disturbance at a church not far away. Back then, it was common practice for people to go deputies' homes to request help. After he arrived at the church, he was ambushed and shot in the back of the head. He died at the church," Dodson explained.

In 1996, when Dodson was a deputy sheriff working with the Greene County Sheriff's Department in Greeneville (TN), she first inquired about having her grandfather's name added to the NLEOM.

"I was told I would have to have proof of his death—that it was in the line of duty—and I would need records to back up that claim," she added.

After retiring from her career as a law enforcement officer in 2001, Dodson began in earnest to research the circumstances of her grandfather's death to find the necessary records to meet the threshold of evidence required to be added to the NLEOM.

"I started on the Internet, which is not like it is today. Searching was much more difficult, but I thought there might be a newspaper article about his death, or I might be able to locate an obituary. I searched 'Kentucky newspapers' and found the University of Louisville housed a large repository of newspapers from across the state of Kentucky. I looked through the list of newspapers and found the librarians had archived 'The Harlan Enterprise,' a newspaper from that area at the time," Dodson noted.

After submitting a microfilm request for the 1929–33 editions of "The Harlan Enterprise"—which entailed mailing a form via "snail mail" and paying a $20 fee—10 days later, Dodson received the microfilm.

"I went to a local library to use a microfilm viewer, and within minutes, I was reading the news account of my grandfather's murder," she said. "I cried tears of joy and sadness in finally finding evidence of his death. It was the best $20 I ever spent!"

Although the newspaper article yielded an important piece of the documentation puzzle she was putting together for her case, nevertheless, the project was stalled by the need for more evidence, as well as the constraints of Dodson's time and location.

"I was living in Pennsylvania from 2001-04 working on my doctorate, so it was not possible for me to travel to Kentucky to look through local records. I wanted to locate his death certificate to confirm his manner of death, but records were not archived electronically during that time," Dodson said. "In 2004, I moved to Tennessee, and I lived within 60 miles of Smith (KY), where my grandfather died. I traveled to Harlan County with my mother, Margaret Jones, and found out many of the old records were stored in the courthouse; however, the records had been moved from the courthouse because rain had damaged the attic on the courthouse where the records had been stored. No one knew where I could locate the records."

Over the years, Dodson continued to pursue, through many record searches and numerous communications with law enforcement professionals in Kentucky, her dream of getting her grandfather's name added to the NLEOM—but to no avail. Then, in the fall of 2014, she first met the tenacious van Heeswijk, a graduate student enrolled in a course she was teaching.

"During class discussion one day, I mentioned my grandfather's story. After class, he stayed after to ask me more about my grandfather's murder. I explained everything I knew about it," she said. "I also told him how much I would love for my grandfather's name to be added to the memorial, because my mother was 85 years old, and it would mean everything to her. Her father was taken from her when she was two years old, and she always wanted his sacrifice recognized, especially since the men allegedly responsible for his death were never held responsible for his murder. A few days later, Martin called me and asked me to send him any information I had about my grandfather's case."

After receiving that information, unbeknownst to Dodson, van Heeswijk spoke with a representative at his department, and they reached out to the current sheriff, Leslie Smith, in Harlan County. Based on that request, Sheriff Smith agreed to sign the appropriate paperwork to submit her grandfather's name for inclusion on the memorial. In early February last year, van Heeswijk contacted Dodson to let her know his department had submitted it.

"I was overwhelmed by his kindness and the thought he would help my family in this way; however, he explained to me my grandfather's inclusion was not guaranteed and a NLEOM committee would make the final determination."

According to van Heeswijk, he wanted to surprise Dodson, so he didn't share any additional details of his own persistent pursuit to get Hensley's name added to the NLEOM.

"I didn't tell her what I was doing. It took me about a year and a half. I kept calling officials in Harlan County and in Kentucky. I also called officials at the NLEOM," he explained. "It was a process of going back and forth—and back and forth again. The necessary additional proof didn't seem to exist, as the records had been damaged many years ago."

Good Things Come

Last November, Dodson made a visit to the Kentucky Archives in Louisville in an attempt to locate arrest records for the two perpetrators who killed her grandfather. Unfortunately, the trip did not yield any additional records. After that, she submitted her grandfather's death certificate, the census records and a letter from a Kentucky official, which verified she had conducted an exhaustive search of the archives.

van Heeswijk noted that one of the obstacles seemed to be that Hensley's name was not on the Kentucky Officer Down Memorial Page.

"So that's why the officials at the NLEOM wouldn't recognize him at that point. I couldn't really say if I got him put on that Kentucky memorial web page, as Dr. Dodson had submitted many requests and records, as well. But all of a sudden, after of a year of me going back and forth with people, I saw his name on there. When I saw it, I was like, 'Oh my goodness! No one even contacted me to let me know,'" he added.

In early December, van Heeswijk once again reached out to Dodson—this time with definitive news about their efforts to get Hensley's name on the NLEOM.

"He told me my grandfather's name would be added to the NLEOM. I was overwhelmed by emotions and burst into tears immediately. Of course, the first person I called was my mother. She also burst into tears when she got the news her father's name would be included and, more importantly, that his sacrifice would be acknowledged and recognized. She is 86 years old. She told me it was the end to an 84-year journey of seeking justice for her father," Dodson said. "I believe that people come into our lives for a reason—and Martin came into my life to help me to get my grandfather's sacrifice recognized. How can you ever thank or repay someone for something like that? I will be eternally grateful for Martin's compassion and kindness."

Hensley's name will be added the NLEOM Friday, May 13, at the 28th annual Candlelight Vigil during the national yearly Police Week commemoration in Washington, D.C.

As for van Heeswijk, he hopes to retire from his police officer position in the near future and then teach, which is one of the reasons he decided to pursue his master's degree at WIU. He also said he will certainly keep up what he described as a "crazy" schedule in order to help out his fellow human.

"Western is very well known for its law enforcement and justice administration program, and to have a master's degree from WIU, that will be extremely beneficial in my search for a teaching position," he said. "One of my life goals is to always try to do something good for someone else. I think people who do good things in life… well, good things happen to them, and I have been very blessed."

Posted By: Teresa Koltzenburg (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
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