Final farewell to former Mpls. police officer

For some, it might be hard to understand the kind of comradery and strong connection that exists between police officers.

And then you see what happens when one of them is gone.

In Richfield Thursday, a full police funeral, complete with ceremony and tradition helped pay tribute to a fallen colleague.

Dozens of Minneapolis police officers joined family and friends to pay their final respects to their colleague, even though David Loeffler hadn't been part of the ranks for some time.

He lost his leg to a drunk driver twelve years ago, after getting out of his squad car to help a pedestrian. After that, Loeffler worked for the gang strike force and then earned his law degree, going on to prosecute cases for the Minnesota Attorney General's office.

But once a police officer, always a police officer.

Loeffler died suddenly last week at his home in Aitkin and Thursday, his police family remembered his life and contributions.

"We're a brotherhood and sisterhood of cops and we unify each other around times like this and you can see Dave brought a lot of joy to people's lives. There will be a lot of people here today and that's what we want to remember today is Dave," says Officer Peter Hafstad, who was David Loeffler's partner and with him the night he was hit by the drunk driver.

"Here was a kid who was sharp, a good street cop, knew what he was doing, everybody liked him...he liked everybody....suddenly your life changes drastically for you," says Lt. Bill Whisney who leads the Honor Guard. "This is our final farewell and we want to do it with dignity and class and it's for the fallen officer and for the department. It's our way of sending him off in grand fashion."

While Loeffler lost his leg, constantly battling severe pain, he never lost his drive and passion for life.

Most recently, Loeffler was prosecuting cases in Aitkin County.

Police officials tell us Loeffler's death was related to long term complications from losing his leg.

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