The dead cop sounds like a really bad pig - Rob's sense of justice was uncompromising. He voiced frustration with a society that he felt had lost its moorings. His righteous anger at drunken drivers drove his devotion to duty. He could be merciless in evaluating performance I would observe him not only questioning his arrestees, but admonishing them on their irresponsible behavior. Original Article Officer brought heart and firm sense of justice to job Steve Benson Steve.benson@arizonarepublic.com The Arizona Republic May. 5, 2006 12:00 AM Saturday night, heading home on my motorcycle, I approached the intersection of Apache Boulevard and Price Road, where traffic had been cordoned off for blocks by the Tempe police. As a sworn police officer (reserve) with the town of Gilbert, I knew something serious had occurred. The next morning I received a call from my sergeant informing me that fellow Gilbert Officer Rob Targosz had died a few hours earlier from injuries suffered when - at the intersection of Apache and Price the night before - he had been struck by a drunken driver, as he drove his police motorcycle to work for assignment with a DUI enforcement unit. Rob was a man of unsurpassed passion and intensity for his work. He was the first Gilbert officer I rode along with a decade ago when I was contemplating becoming a police officer myself. I soon discovered that I was in the presence of a person fiercely dedicated to his calling. Rob had a gaze that could cut through you like a soldering iron. You sensed he was assessing you and the situation - and that he would shortly be giving you his unvarnished opinion of both. As we cruised through Gilbert that first day, he took me to a major thoroughfare where he would often pull over drunken drivers. We later stopped at a Dairy Queen for a quick break. We had barely gotten back into the squad car with our ice cream cones when a call came in from dispatch. Realizing that he could not respond with total focus while eating an ice cream cone, he ditched the cone. Rob's sense of justice was uncompromising. He voiced frustration with a society that he felt had lost its moorings. His righteous anger at drunken drivers drove his devotion to duty. Rob was one of my training officers during my early stages of police certification, as well as a defensive tactics instructor for the department. He could be merciless in evaluating performance but he would remind us that he was being tough for one reason: so that we would be able to go home at the end of the day to our families. Rob and I testified in a DUI trial of a wobbly-wheeled driver we had spotted while on patrol together. With Rob on the stand, the rest was history. Rob had the eye of a hawk, the nose of bloodhound, the coolness of a cucumber and the conviction of a caped crusader. If he caught you driving drunk, you were in deep trouble. On DUI task force operations, I would observe him not only questioning his arrestees, but admonishing them on their irresponsible behavior. Rob came to police work armed with a strong heart and a firm sense of justice. He loved his job, his wife, his family, his community and his fellow officers. He is a true hero - a fallen hero - the last cop I ever thought would be the first one in the history of the Gilbert Police Department to die on duty - at the hands of a drunken driver, no less. We have all lost a great man. Peace to you, Rob Targosz, dedicated peace officer. Steve Benson is The Arizona Republic's editorial cartoonist.