State Police Cpl.

Monday, September 11, 2000

State Police Cpl. Ted Foss, who was killed by a truck during a traffic stop a week ago, was known to me for his professional attitude and work just by talking with him on the telephone. Ted Foss was a state trooper who enforced the law not narrowly and technically, but broadly and professionally by concerning himself with the total context of the law and public responsibility.

Foss was killed when hit by a semitrailer truck during a routine traffic stop on Aug. 31 on Interstate 90 near the Lewiston exit. He was returning to his patrol car – which was well off the roadway with its lights flashing – and the truck plowed into his car, pushed it into the vehicle he had stopped, injuring its occupants, and drove over him.

Some months ago east of that site, I witnessed and then reported another traffic violation, and Ted Foss phoned me about it after he had investigated. This was the extent of our contact and I never met him, but I’ll never forget him.

I was driving west when I saw an auto cross the median from the eastbound lane and jump up onto my lane ahead of me. My first impression was that it must be a state police car making an emergency turn-about. As he speeded toward me, now heading in the wrong direction and against heavy traffic, I could see it was quite a different situation. I put on my emergency flashers and pulled off onto the outside shoulder. Other vehicles followed my example, and the offending vehicle continued east on the westbound lanes. As soon as I could, I phoned the state police and reported what I had witnessed. Then I continued on my way.

Later that day, while working in my study, the telephone rang: "This is state Trooper Ted Foss of the Rochester Post." He immediately thanked me for reporting the incident and for helping the state police maintain safety on the highways.

What I wanted done with the driver, I suppose, was for him to be stopped, ticketed and fined heavily. I was angry about the incident and with him for it.

Foss, however, had gained a different perspective, and he had other concerns. He explained the state police had stopped the offending vehicle and talked with its driver. The man was from Illinois and unfamiliar with the road. He had begun treatment at the Mayo Clinic, which had put him on unfamiliar medication and he was sustaining a reaction at the time. The driver became disoriented and thought he was heading back to the clinic for emergency treatment.

Fortunately, all other drivers did as I had and the state police were able to stop his vehicle before he hit anyone or anyone was injured. They then assisted him back to Mayo for further treatment and left him only when physicians reported he had recovered from the reaction.

Foss again thanked me for calling in. From the joy he evidenced in relating how they got help for the driver and that the help was successful, I sensed he was not as much thanking me for reporting a traffic violation as he was grateful that I had given him an opportunity to help someone in serious need. He obviously enjoyed narrating the experience and was enjoying the sense of accomplishment. He had managed to save a life that day, perhaps several lives, and now he was reminded of why he became a state trooper.

Moreover, he was concerned about me. He appreciated my going to the trouble of reporting the incident, and he seemed to be rewarding me by letting me know what had been done in response to my call and how happy and well the incident had turned out. I hung up the telephone not only satisfied I had made a worthwhile contribution but with yet greater confidence in the Minnesota State Patrol. And I remembered the name of Ted Foss.

It is now my honor to celebrate the professionalism and human compassion of a state trooper who knew his job is a good deal more than writing tickets.

Wallace Alcorn’s column appears Mondays