Robert Sberna - Badge 387: The Story of Jim Simone, Americas Most Decorated Cop

I first became acquainted with Jim Simone in May 2013, shortly after the arrest of Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man who had imprisoned three women in his house for nearly a decade. Simone, while working as a traffic cop in 2008, had pulled over Castro for operating a motorcycle without a valid license plate.

After a short conversation that was recorded on Simones dash cam, he issued citations to Castro and then released him. Simone, of course, didnt know that the mild-mannered, contrite Castro was holding Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus hostage.

When media outlets learned of Simones dash-cam video, he was interviewed on several national news shows. I noticed that some of the commentators referred to Simone (pronounced Si-moan-ee) as Supercop and mentioned his history of deadly gun battles. In following months, police across the nation were involved in several high-profile shootings. The controversial deaths of civilians in Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore, and Ferguson, Missouri, ignited a national debate on police use of force.

In the midst of an escalating wave of frustration and anger at police, I became interested in examining law enforcement protocol and the elements involved in a deadly force incident. I was seeking answers to weighty questions: What are the inciting factors that compel a police officer to take lethal action? Can civilians fairly judge a cops split-second response to a perceived deadly situation? Is the media acting objectively in its second-guessing of police discretion, or is their criticism driven by agenda?

Simone, a forty-year police veteran involved in five fatal shootings, seemed to be an obvious interview source. Retired from the Cleveland Police, he was employed as a part-time patrol officer for two suburban police departments. He agreed to be interviewed and this book was born.

During eighteen months of conversations with Simone, he was straight-forward, self-assured, and consistentwhich, as I came to learn, was how he conducted himself as a police officer. The many cops and citizens I interviewed typically described Simone as an aggressive, no-nonsense officer who rarely cut breaks for anyone.

Ed Kovacic, who rose from patrol officer to Clevelands chief of police, was known for holding his officers to a high ethical standard. Simone, said Kovacic, always met and exceeded that standard.

He is the most ethical person Ive ever known, said Kovacic, conceding that Simones by-the-book mentality occasionally caused problems.

One of the most difficult things in police work is to be 100 percent, Kovacic said. If youre going to enforce the law for one person one way, you must enforce the law for all people the same way. Simone was 100 percent down the line. Thats a difficult thing to do, and I admired him for it. He had the guts and courage to issue tickets to citizens and cops alike, even if that made his life difficult amongst his colleagues.

However, Simones fellow cops always knew they could count on him to cover their backs, added Kovacic. When things got out of hand, Simone would take charge, he said. He would never let someone take a risk that he could take himself.

Kovacic, who was one of Clevelands most respected and popular police chiefs, nevertheless said it wouldnt be practical to have an entire department of Simone types. Jimmy is too rigid, Kovacic explained. The citizenry would rebel if there were too many Simones on the police force. If Jimmy has a fault, its that hes inflexible. At the same time, its his strength. Hes an absolute. Every department should have at least one Jim Simone to show other cops how good they can be, even though we know they will never come close to matching his accomplishments.

While Kovacic said that we are a safer community with diligent, proactive officers like Jim Simone, he said this age of political correctness and soft policing makes it unlikely that well see another Simone on the police force again.

Simone has meticulously documented the highlights of his police career, storing news clippings and photographs in several large plastic bins. Included in the bins are hundreds and hundreds of plaques, medals, and letters of commendation for valor and professionalism. At one point, I attempted to determine how Simone stacked up against other U.S. police officers in terms of awards. After researching the police departments of major cities and posting queries on law enforcement Internet forums, it seemed very probable that Simone is Americas most decorated active-duty cop. If my research is determined to be inaccurate, I apologize to the many dedicated police officers who serve our communities.

Along with the accumulation of decorations, Simone has become the subject of numerous urban legends and folklore. Nearly everyone who lives or travels through Clevelands Second District has a Simone story. He made more than ten thousand arrests during his career, with many of those apprehensions involving a chase, a struggle, or a fight.