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“Rest easy Deputy Hinostroza, we’ve got it from here.”
It’s a term of endearment law enforcement around the region shared when they were notified of Deputy Antonio Hinostroza’s death in the line of duty.
Whether it be due to connections that former coworkers shared with Deputy Hinostronza or a sense of empathy for the loss his family at home and at work, his line of duty death translated to the sixth tragedy that the men and women of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department have had to come to terms with in six years.
“That was probably one of my biggest fears as the sheriff… prior to even our own loss in 2011 with Mary Donahou, I went to every [law enforcement] funeral. As the California State Sheriff’s Association President, I went to every funeral,” said Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson. “I sat there thinking ‘I never want to be that guy on the stage. I don’t want to be up there,' and yet, it happened.”
Coming to terms with six line of duty deaths
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In late 2011, CSI Mary Donahou was killed in the line of duty. Her death was the first that the department saw in more than 40 years. A full generation of deputies had turned over at the department before Donahou's death.
Donahou's death came as shock to an organization that couldn't remember or weren't even around for a death in their own "sheriff family."
According to Sheriff Christianson, it never got any easier as Deputy Robert Paris, Deputy Dennis Wallace, Deputy Jason Garner, CSO Raschel Johnson, and Deputy Hinostroza’s deaths followed in the years after.
While deputies and police officers are familiar with making calls notifying a family member of a death, those calls are still among the least favored for any officer to handle. When it comes to the death of someone in the “sheriff family,” it falls specifically on Sheriff Christianson to make some of the most difficult calls he’s ever had to make.
After the death of Deputy Hinostroza in November, the Sheriff met that duty again when he contacted Hinostroza’s mother. Sheriff Christianson and his undersheriff visited her and notified her that her son was killed in accident.
“Those are never easy conversations, and sometimes, you’re at a loss,” he said. “You don’t really know what to say. What do you tell someone? It’s very difficult- very hard.”
While the calls were difficult and challenging for him to make, Sheriff Christianson acknowledged that, as a leader, his feelings were among the last of his concerns when compared to the impacted families and his first responders.
"It’s not about me," Christianson said. "I have to make sure that the needs of our employees are met first."
Beyond the grief of Hinostroza’s family, his “sheriff family,” friends, and coworkers were the first to hear of his death on dispatch. They were also called upon to help remove his body from the vehicle.
“It was our team. It was our coroner’s team that helped the fire department cut Deputy Hinostroza out of that car at the coroner’s office in one of our evidence bays,” Sheriff Christianson said. “That process was tremendously difficult for coworkers and colleagues who were close friends and coworkers with Deputy Hinostroza.”
Despite their heartbreak at the loss of one of their own, the department still had call coming in. Work in the community couldn't stop while they grieved.
"We still have to carry on," Christianson said. "You have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and get back in the fight. Because while all of this is going on, what we do doesn’t come to a stop.”
There will always be a call for service. Even as the department celebrates the life and service of Hinostroza on December 6.
According to Sheriff Christianson, law enforcement allies will be there to help as those calls come in. As deputies recognize Hinstrosza, other agencies will pick up the calls that will allow the deputies and Hinostroza to rest easy.
How heartbreak makes a family come together
Even after they grieve, the "sheriff family" sticks together.
Officers and deputies who were touched by the life of Deputy Hinostroza will be celebrating his life on December 6. Some will even take time afterward with a smaller group to recognize him in their own way.
Out of tragedies, the real strength of those familial bonds shine through. After the death CSO Johnson, her law enforcement family came together to do something special for her son. In her honor, they supported her son as he walked in his high school graduation ceremony.
A Run to Remember
Project Remember, headed by Modesto Police Department’s Sean Dodge, shows just how dedicated and expansive the law enforcement family is. The officers followed a mindset that law enforcement personnel can die twice: once when their bodies die and again when they're forgotten.
To keep those memories alive, 12 officers from across the country came together in 2017 to honor their fallen first responders, which included those like CSO Johnson and Deputy Garner who had died that year, by running the Marine Corp. Marathon in Washington D.C., but they would do so in full police uniforms with 25 lbs. of gear and body armor.
It was a task that participants like Stanislaus County Sheriff's Captain Jim Gordon, Officer Dodge, and Turlock Police Lt. Neil Cervenka themselves admitted to be “insanity” and “sheer craziness.”
Despite the risk of heat stress and pain, the officers came together to run the marathon to honor the fallen members of their law enforcement family.
"The concept of running in 25 lbs. of gear and a full uniform- it's painful, but our pain is only few a few hours whereas the family's pain that is left behind is forever," Lt. Cervenka told reporters in 2017.
Whether it's a marathon run in full uniform or showing support for surviving family members, the law enforcement family usually finds a unique way to celebrate a life and grieve when they suffer incredible loss. For Deputy Hinostroza, they'll have to find a way to do it once again.
"I think we do what we've always done," said Sheriff Christianson. "We come together and support each other. The closure will be next Thursday [Dec. 6 for Deputy Hinostroza]... I know that the employees typically will all get together that night, and they'll celebrate in their own special way."
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