Like so many others, Brandon Paudert and Bill Evans took up careers in law enforcement to follow in the footsteps of their fathers. The West Memphis, Ark., police officers killed on Thursday after a traffic stop on Interstate 40 had seen their fathers -- and, in Evans' case, a grandfather -- serve long careers.
Evans, who was 38, also has a brother on the West Memphis force; Brandon's father, Bob, is the West Memphis chief of police who previously served in the same capacity in Bartlett and worked many years for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.
According to Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin, when the career runs in the family, the kinship means knowing the pride of wearing the uniform and the badge -- but also understanding the peril. Godwin, like many others in Memphis, visited with Chief Paudert after he heard the awful news about 39-year-old Brandon.
Slain Arkansas Officers Followed Their Families' Blue Legacy
Like so many others, Brandon Paudert and Bill Evans took up careers in law enforcement to follow in the footsteps of their fathers. The West Memphis, Ark., police officers killed on Thursday after a traffic stop on Interstate 40 had seen their fathers -- and, in Evans' case, a grandfather -- serve long careers.
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