I read recently that Arnold “Ed” Harris Jr. died on Nov. 24, at the age of 78 in Mount Shasta. The date got my attention because it was one year earlier that my wife had died. She was also the same age.

But that’s another story for another time. I want to talk about “Detective Harris,” whom I met as a young reporter for The Daily Democrat in the late 1980s, while reporting on the Woodland Police Department.

Harris was working with Bob Jones, who died in mid-2016. Jones, some may remember, initiated the idea of a permanent memorial to those law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. There are around 12 names engraved on the black stone monument.

Because I visited the Police Department daily — then located on Court Street immediately west of City Hall — I must have gained their confidence because soon I was being invited inside the “inner sanctum” where the detectives and other police officers did their work. It got to a point that I just walked into the station and the receptionist behind the protective bullet-proof glass panel just buzzed me in so I could look at the overnight crime reports.

After a time, I even got access to a typewriter so I could write out the reports legibly instead of trying to decipher my scrawl.

Both Detective Harris and Detective Jones were nice enough, particularly Harris. I didn’t know it at the time but we were later to share a common link. He graduated from Ukiah High School and after I left Woodland to be editor at the Ukiah Journal our family lived only a couple of blocks from Ukiah High.

During his lifetime, Ed enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 1966, after which he was sent to Vietnam, and according to obituary, drove a tank that was blown up during combat, suffering injuries that would affect him for the rest of his life. I never saw any evidence of this during my time spent with him. But I wasn’t surprised to learn he was awarded three Purple Hearts for his bravery. Brave he was. I saw him interview suspects and while he always treated them fairly, you could tell he wasn’t going to take any crap off them.

Ed had a 33-year career with the Woodland Police Department and besides being a detective he was also a patrol officer, motorcycle cop, and member of the bomb squad. His obituary also noted Ed became a respected instructor in pursuit driving. He retired in 2003, and I kept in touch just a bit remembering old times for the most part.

What Ed didn’t know (and I don’t think Bob did either) was that they gave me a valuable gift of seeing how police operated behind the scenes. They told me I was free to ask them anything about a case and they would tell me, and also tell me what was “off the record.” And, they generally added, “if you ever publish anything we tell you to leave out, then we’ll stop talking to you.”

It put me in difficult position sometimes because I knew more about a case than the regular crime reporter. (Yes, in the “old days,” The Democrat not only had a police reporter, but a sheriff’s reporter and a court reporter. I was simply putting together the overnight crime news.)

But I never broke confidence — although I sometimes offered “tips” or “suggestions” to the other writers. And after a time, if there was a major event under way I would poke my head into the Police Department, get buzzed into the back room and watch as the detectives and patrol officers build their cases by interviewing suspects or logging evidence. Some things I still don’t feel comfortable reporting about because they involved crimes against women or children.

His obituary reported that Ed loved sports, playing on a men’s baseball team and coaching women’s softball. He also held a pilot’s license, rode bicycles in races, and participated in running events. He also loved traveling with his wife Gloria.

Ed’s obituary also said he had a sense of humor, enjoyed reading, art and watching movies. I saw some of this during my time knowing him and offer my condolences to his wife and family. He’s to be buried at the Ukiah Cemetery — located immediately across the street from the Ukiah High — and the next time I visit Ukiah, I’ll stop by and pay my respects to a man who lived life well.

Jim Smith is the former editor of The Daily Democrat, retiring in 2021 after a 27-year career at the paper.