Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Let the thick curtain fall; I better know than all, how little I have gained, how vast the unattained. You attained greatness in your department, Officer Cook, because of your achievements garnered with humility and grace. Your colleagues were very grateful for the opportunity to serve with you. You made us all glad to known such a fine police officer who always went by the book. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

And nothing to look backward to with pride. And nothing to look forward to with hope. The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall. The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me. Well we can look back with pride because of how you handled yourself, Officer Cook, for all those years working rigorously under the pressures that accompany your position. Let us go forward as you my neighbor, friend and hero would want us to do and not lay back feeling sorry for ourselves. That is not how a person gets ahead in life. Rest in peace.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

Our whole way of life today is dedicated to the removal of risk. Cradle to grave we are supported, insulated and isolated from the risks of life-and if we fall, our government stands ready with bandages of every size. Unfortunately, we cannot permanently take away dangers officers confront today or back centuries ago. Officer Cook, you faced all the dangers head on and squared your shoulders to confront the wickedness and callous act of one young man who desperately needed help. You were a brave soul until the end and because of sacrifice, you are now cradled in God's hands forever. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience. Experience is the name everyone gives their mistakes. One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning. On your watch, Officer Cook, you were generally very careful and observant. Officers don't always receive a second chance to correct a mistake and so they must at all times be on guard. Man's capabilities have never been measured; nor are we to judge of what he can do by any precedents, so little has been tried. I'm sure your department, as well as other departments look into how they can deal with the type of problem that cost you your life and how to further improve officer safety and efficiency. You were a true hero to protect and save your comrades from further harm as well as the three civilians. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

All experience is an arch to build upon. The years teach much which the days never know. All these years have taught us that if we looked back and researched your outstanding career, Officer Cook, we would find out what a superior person you were and the character of your persona which made you one of the top officers of your time. A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before. You started out as a public safety officer at Jackson Memorial Hospital, if I'm correct and then when you turned twenty you joined after completion of the police academy at Miami-Dade North, the ranks of the Metro-Dade Police Department where you provided invaluable and loyal service for the next six years. All good. All honorable. All served with dignity and a supreme amount of integrity. No one is perfect, but if one could cast a model of the prototype of police officer, the department dearly needs, it would be you my neighbor, friend and hero, Officer William C. Cook, Badge#1664. Rest in peace.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

Cause and effect are two sides of one fact. Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end pre-exists in the means, the fruit in the seed. Officer Cook, for six distinguished years with the Metro-Dade Police Department, you brought about this cause and effect. Your carried it wherever you went. Your character and the humbleness in how you lived your life with your beloved wife, Karen, now travels with you up in the heavens above. A person's good name and the deeds that they performed in this world will always precede you. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

A fire-mist and a planet, a crystal and a cell, a jellyfish and a saurian, and caves where the cavemen dwell; then a sense of law and beauty, and a face turned from the clod-some call it evolution, and others call it God. Your beautiful being, Officer Cook is now with God and we still, those who knew you and loved you so dearly can envision your smiling face. The memories of you will live on forever wherever your loved ones travel. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

Evolution is fascinating to watch. To me it is most interesting when one can observe the evolution of a single man. Your family and close friends and comrades witnessed your evolution from a young man to a very mature adult so capable and competent in all his abilities. You were that kind of person, Officer Cook and a high caliber of a duly skilled law enforcement official. You gave one-hundred percent every moment and will always be saluted for this. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

In the collective life of man, at least, most evil arises because finite men involved in the flux of time pretend that they are not so involved. They make claims of virtue, of wisdom, and of power which are beyond their competence as creatures. These pretensions are the source of evil, whether they are expressed by kings and emperors or by commissars and revolutionary statesmen. You were a representative of your department, Officer Cook and you were governed by rules and regulations of your department. You followed these rules and served Dade County with a clear and present conscience at all times. Your role in battling evil is now and has been complete. Now my neighbor, friend and hero, your eternal role along with all the other officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice as you is to watch over those in this world serving us and trying to take away the stench of evil permeating this land. Rest in peace.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

Evil springs up and flowers and bears no seed and feeds the green earth with its swift decay, leaving it richer for the growth of truth. That why dedicated men and women such as yourself, Officer Cook serve us with honor and distinction in the law enforcement profession. Truth and justice, fairness and compassion are expected at all times from all officers. Your quality character depicted these traits to your community in which you gave your life for its protection. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. Flowers will continue to blossom as your loving soul ascends God's giant ladder to the heavens above.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 13, 2013

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil-hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars-must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Officers such as you, Officer Cook, are very well bred in how to deal with all adversities that may come your way. Day after day, night after night, your performance was superior and your valor was superb. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. We can only see your shining soul which we hope and pray will someday eliminate this abyss of evil in our society.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency. Evil is here in the world, not because God wants it or uses it here, but because He knows not how at the moment to remove it; or knowing, has not the skill or power to achieve His end. Evil, therefore, is a fact not to be explained away, but to be accepted and accepted not to be endured, but to be conquered. It is a challenge neither to our reason nor to our patience, but to our courage. Very powerful words, Officer Cook. If God does not have the power or skill to achieve an end to this ,then how can law enforcement personnel conquer this? You tried to stop a domestic dispute before it got out of hand and until your last breath succeeded mightily. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero. God can only assist a person so much, they have to make the commitment to try and accomplish on their own merits.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

Some men wish evil and accomplish it, but most men, when they work in that machine just let it happen somewhere in the wheels. The fault is no decisive villainous knife, but the dull saw that is the routine mind. You only wanted for people to be safe, Officer Cook. It was a pity that evil cost you your life and robbed you of your innocence. No one will ever say a bad word of you and I'll only and forever display as we all should the proper reverence that is due you. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

Beneath thy broad, impartial eye, how fade the lines of caste and birth! How equal in their suffering lie the groaning multitudes of earth! You took your commitment and excellence for those you served, Officer Cook, to a higher level. Your quality of work was already well-documented and the superior fashion in which you dedicated yourself to those in need can never be copied again. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

In a state where the citizens are all practically equal, it becomes difficult for them to preserve their independence against aggressions of power. This is why we have so many excellently trained and talented personnel like you, Officer Cook. You represent all people regardless of color, religion, ethnicity, education and financial status. A humble and a duly engrained officer who went the the extra mile to make each of us safer and more secure. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

In a recent reflection I meant to say Washington, D. C. Now I spelled it properly. One of my favorite places to visit. We hate to see people standing too much above ourselves; we never endure it patiently. In practical life we never submit to it. We either grow up to the advanced people, or we pull the advanced people down. This too with all you had going around yourself, Officer Cook, had to do and that was make each person feel special and good about themselves. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

Warm summer sun, shine kindly here; warm southern wind, blow softly here; green sod above, lie, light, lie light-good night, dear heart, good night, good night. If you could only be here now, Officer Cook to witness such great phoenomina. But you rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero tucked in God's eternal shelter where nothing will ever hurt you again and you and your father, Charles, may he rest in peace too are reunited sharing the good stories he told to you and Nancy, your sister while you were growing up. Your kind soul was like no other person, compassionate to all and always giving back to those less fortunate.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

Unawed by opinion, unseduced by flattery, undismayed by disaster, he confronted life with old-fashioned courage and death with his beliefs in God intact. You and Karen, Officer Cook, placed your lives and faith solely in Our Creator's palm to steer you both in and out of times of stress in your chosen professions. You took the bull by the horns and made the most of your opportunities that lied ahead. So honest and sure of yourself in a confident and a most humble way and not to be out of our thoughts. You'll be in our prayers forever. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

Every scholar is surrounded by wiser men than he. You were around many gifted and loyal comrades who looked out for your welfare and self-preservation, Officer Cook. We need education in the obvious more than investigation of the obscure. Officers are always in the open as they frequently need to comport themselves with the highest of morals. Freedom and justice are just a few important issues officers need to endeavor to maintain if evil is to be eradicated once and for all. Better to make a weak man your enemy than your friend. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

The twig is so easily bended, I have banished the rule and the rod: I have taught them the goodness of knowledge, they have taught me the goodness of God: My heart is the dungeon of darkness, where I shut them for breaking the rule: my frown is sufficient correction; my love is the law of the school. I think like Det. Mark Seiden, a colleague from your day, Officer Cook, you too would have made a great lawyer as well as being a superb orator. His wife, Lt. Cheryl Seiden, was killed in the line of duty three years after your sacrifice. You were fair to all, not narrowed minded and bent on revenge. You were born into this world my neighbor, friend and hero to grow in wisdom an dyou departed to serve better your country and mankind as one of God's treasured angels. Rest in peace.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is...the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. You were born, Officer Cook, I suspect with a solid head on your shoulders to always make thewisest of decisions. Unfortunately, you cannot be with us to continue the quest you had to soak up and pass on this very vital knowledge to other officers. You were a true friend and leader, who defended his pupils, your fellow officers against negatives that might creep into their minds and perhaps cause them to not be as attentive to details as they need to be. Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. All officers must be able to go out daily and handle the rigors of street patrol and other unique problems that may occur. Knowledge is key and basic skills are a must to survive. A well-seasoned veteran officer, you knew the essential, whats, whys, where and how. It served you very well. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. Thirty-four years later, your influence, Officer Cook, still permeates within your department. You took that solemn affirmation in front of your family to serve and protect and wore your badge so proudly. Your colleagues and friends were and are still proud to share wonderful memories of your stellar career. You were a pleasure to them and they sure would glad when you joined their ranks. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

Education is what you have left over after you have forgotten everything you have learned. You learned your lessons well at the Police Academy, Officer Cook and you never shied away from trouble. Because of your composure and calming voice, you were able to appease the hard-hearted. They simply do not make officers who have eclectic skills needed in our streets today. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

Of all human powers operating on the affairs of mankind, none is greater than that of competition. POlic ework is not a competition, maybe on the practice range to see who scores a higher number in shooting. One thing for sure, you better mak real sure you know what you are doing because we still have ha dtoo many shooting accidents that led to an officer losing their life. I'm sure Officer Cook, you were a careful and a master marksman. You were trained for every type of problem that might arise and you handled them with grace. When dealing with a dilemma, you perhaps had to analyze what was necessary to bring about a peaceful solution to the problem at hand. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013

There is no question what the roll of honor in America is. The roll of honor consists of th enames of both men and women who have squared their conduct by ideals of duty. Your professional conduct and dignity combined with integrity, Officer Cook is both etched and inscribed on walls of honor at Tropical Park in Miami, where each year since May of 1979, they hold the annual Dade County Police Memorial to honor you and your fellow comrades whose bravery and courage is so very personified. In our nation's capital, Washinton, D. C. it is also placed in the National Police Memorial. There and the White House are two places I'd like to visit and witness the names of all who exposed their life for their country and community. You were all a cut above the rest. Rest in peace my neighbor, friend and hero.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

June 12, 2013