Last Week On the Job One of the Toughest for Logan Police Officer

LOGAN, Utah — Pictures have a way of capturing a single moment in time.

You can see a lot just by looking at a photograph of Rod Peterson lately.

Peterson, with the Logan Police Department, can be seen holding the back of his head, eyes closed, head up to the sky.

“My first thought when I saw it was, I don’t even remember consciously doing that,” said Peterson.

It was just after detectives found the body of 5-year-old Elizabeth Shelley.

She had been murdered and buried in a backyard in Logan.

Looking at the photo, you can almost feel his exhaustion.

“I had just walked away briefly and, I don’t know, just trying to collect myself,” said Peterson. “Occasionally, you’re going to see some horrible tragedies that you’ll never be able to un see.”

In that single photo, you can also see the culmination of 31 years doing this job.

This week was Peterson’s last before retirement.

It ended on one of the most difficult cases of his career.

“I got grandchildren about that same age and you can’t help but have that creep into your head,” he said. “It makes you sad.”

The emotional toll of this case has been crushing for police officers.

“You don’t have to go far into statistics to find that we have a high suicide rate,” said Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen.

That’s why mental health professionals will be talking to Logan police officers next week.

Chief Jensen wants to make sure they’re doing okay.

“We have a tendency to be ten feet tall and bulletproof, at least in our own eyes, or at least in our own macho nature or whatever you want to say,” said Chief Jensen. “But realistically, we’re human beings just like anybody else. We suffer from emotional stress and things like that.”

After 31 years, one of the @Logancitypolice officers who searched for #ElizabethShelley retired this week. Rod Peterson says all he could think of for his last case was finding her body for her family. This has been a tough case. We'll have a full story on @KSL5TV tonight at 10. pic.twitter.com/nGUeQxieLE

— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) June 1, 2019

For Peterson, he says it takes time to mentally process tough cases.

And they don’t get much tougher than this one.

“It’s difficult and you go home, and you appreciate your family and you just do your best to just get through those difficulties and celebrate those good times,” said Peterson. “This particular incident was very, very emotional and it’ll be a while for a lot of us.”