Cops filled about three-fourths of the church when Sheriff Frank Powell was buried last week. Both before and after the funeral service, hundreds of cops, some who had served under Powell when he was the boss, swapped stories.

He was a stern taskmaster but fair, always protecting his people. Everybody who knew Sheriff Powell was familiar with his reaction when somebody screwed up and embarrassed the department. His jawbone would become firm set and his eyes would pierce you like a laser beam. Everybody knew the wise thing to do at that time was to be quiet and just listen.

As tough as Sheriff Powell could be, he was also a gentle man who never carried a gun. Once, back in 1982, I talked with him at a crime scene, outside a home off Monticello Road where a man with a gun had barricaded himself.

The Sheriff’s top officers advised him against it, but he insisted on going in alone to talk with the distraught man. He went in alone and unarmed.

He was inside the house with the gunman for over a half hour. Finally the door opened and out walked Sheriff Powell with his prisoner who had handed over his gun. No shots were fired and nobody got hurt. The man was quietly arrested and taken to jail.

Frank Powell walked alone and unarmed into hostage situations five times during his 20-year career as Sheriff of Richland County (SC). I know of no other senior law officer who can equal that record.

Sheriff Powell loved young people. Once during an interview he told me, "If parents would simply raise their children the way the good Lord intended, then in one generation I’d be out of a job."

The Sheriff outlived his beloved wife, Bonnie, by two years. He died in his sleep at the age of 72.