Staff Report

May 22, 2000 10 PM

Republican Scott Flowers wants to serve as one of Pike County’s constables by running in Precinct 6.

Born on Valentines Day at the old Beard Hospital in Troy, Flowers grew up in this community and attended Cherry Street Elementary School, Troy Junior High and graduated from Charles Henderson High School in 1967.

He developed an interest in police work at an early age and was encouraged by then Police Chief Curtis Bull to follow that interest.

Bull allowed him to ride was officers Cecil Sullivan and Oscar Parham and help with the radio and telephone at the old police station just off the square.

After attending The Citadel, Flowers joined the Army during the Vietnam War and graduated from Army Flight School to become one of the only Army aviators from Troy.

His combined interest in police work and aviation turned into a successful 26-year career in both fields.

After leaving the Army, Flowers joined the Maryland State Police. At that time, the state of Maryland had the premier helicopter operation in the country, Flowers said.

He said the six-month police academy was no "cake walk" and a third of his class quit in the first two weeks. And, that was after all the candidates had jumped through the hoops of a background investigation, polygraph, psychological testing, interview and physical performance test, Flowers said.

"The police academy is invaluable training, but you don’t really learn police work until you’re on your own," Flowers said. "Most people have vivid memories of certain events in their lives like birth of a child or the death of a parent, but for most Troopers, nothing compares to the first time you’re sent to break up a bar fight or quell a domestic dispute by yourself and you know the nearest backup is 30 minutes away. That’s when you find out what you’re made of."

By 1982 he had earned the highest ratings given by the Federal Aviation Administration, that of certified flight instructor and airline transport pilot. A National Rifle Association certified police firearms instructor, Flowers taught Troopers firearms and officer survival classes for 13 years.

Although off duty time as a Trooper was valuable, he volunteered his time to man the crisis intervention hot lines in his county. This was after he encountered so many senseless suicides in his work.

After having flown nearly 4,000 accident-free hours of medical evacuations, police chases and searches for lost children and the elderly wandering away from nursing homes, having made criminal arrests for rape and murder and having written thousands of traffic warnings and citations, he retired in 1997 and returned to his hometown of Troy.

Since retiring he has kept abreast of changes in the laws and court decisions affecting police. He has also kept up his proficiency in firearms and placed respectably in the National Police Pistol Championships held in Jackson, Miss. and has plans to compete again this year.

Flowers is running for the office of constable as an opportunity to serve the community with the experience only years of police work can provide.

He is active in community and church activities. Flowers is president of the Troy Kiwanis Club, a life member of the American Legion and Sons of Confederate Veterans. Flowers and his wife, Dianne, are members of First Methodist Church, where they are members of the Chancel choir.

When not serving the community, he enjoys staying in shape by jogging with his collie, Heather.

Flowers said he respectfully seeks the support of voters in the sixth precinct for the office of constable.