It’s been more than 25 years since police Detective Robert “Bobby” Bogans, who serves on the Denver mayor’s security detail, called in sick. Soon, he won’t have to if he needs some time off.
Bogans, who joined the Denver Police Department in 1977, is retiring in September. He has provided security for the mayor’s office since 1991.
On Tuesday, about 50 colleagues, family members and friends, including Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Mayor Wellington Webb, gathered to thank Bogans for his service and to wish him well.
Police Chief Gerry Whitman told the gathering that about a month ago, he saw Hickenlooper rushing through City Hall with a stack of folders, papers and binders tucked under his arms.
Whitman looked for the mayor’s security officer and spotted Bogans a step or two behind Hickenlooper, scanning the crowded hallway.
The chief approached Bogans and asked, “Why don’t you help him carry some of that stuff?”
“That’s not my job,” Bogans replied.
Those present, including Hickenlooper, broke into laughter.
“Bogans epitomizes the best of what police officers are: dedicated and loyal,” Webb said.
In hostile territory
Webb recalled attending a Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup victory against the Florida Panthers in 1996. Webb wore an Avalanche jersey and took a lot of heat from Florida fans in their home arena. Bogans was there, just in case.
The former mayor also recalled “open house” nights during his term when anyone could stop by and visit Webb at his office.
“It was a delicate situation,” Webb said. “Security officers have to provide a service where they don’t push people away from you, because you have to be accessible to the public.”
A fatal shooting last week of a gunman at the Colorado Capitol brings home the importance of the work that security officers carry out, Webb said.
During the beginning of the send-off Tuesday in Hickenlooper’s office, Bogans stayed in his professional role, standing a few feet behind and to the side of the speakers who were saluting him. Hickenlooper, Webb and Whitman grabbed him by the arm, more than once, and pulled him beside them to share the spotlight.
Airborne soldier
Bogans, 58, served in the Army Airborne during the Vietnam War, returning stateside in 1969. He met his wife, Cora, in 1972.
“We headed West, ran out of gas in Denver and have been here ever since,” Bogans said.
Bogans worked for the Denver Sheriff’s Department from 1972 to 1977.
An avid fisherman and hunter, Bogans received a couple of fishing hats as parting gifts, along with a wad of cash collected among co-workers and friends.
As he addressed well-wishers Tuesday, Bogans showed a sense of humor.
“Wow, to have a room full with this many people means one of two things,” he said. “You owe me money, or I owe you money.”
On a serious note, Bogans extended thanks to a long list of people, including fellow officers.
He quoted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to express how he felt about serving the city as a police officer for three decades: “I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
