Beyond the badge – Pitt County Sergeant has artwork chosen for museum

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Sergeant Lee Darnell with the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office has been chosen for a new exhibit at the National Law Enforcement Officers Museum in Washington D.C.

A photograph called “Rider of the Storm” will soon be on display in our nation’s capitol beginning in September.

The way superheroes have their very own secret identity behind masks and capes, law enforcement officers are often more beyond the badge. The museum accepted 50 pieces of art from across the country with Darnell’s being one of them.

“Big storm starts blowing in. So, the beach empties and boats are whizzing by behind us and we’re just stretching it out as long as we could before we came in,” Sgt. Darnell said. “And that’s when I see this horse galloping up the beach. It was obvious he had been out riding and wanted to beat the storm. So I just sat right there in the water chest deep and just waited for the right opportunity. Had my camera. Yes, I’m swimming in the Caribbean with my camera and wait until he hit the point I wanted. And I got the picture.”

“I see the best in people. I see the best around me, and I’ll have those visions,” Sgt. Darnell said. “I’m like, I need a photo of that.”

“Officers are using art in a lot of creative ways to help overcome experiences during traumatic events and stress from the job,” Executive Director of the National Law Enforcement Museum Thomas Canavan said. “And art is a really beautiful way of being able to communicate emotions and experiences that we have in the world. And law enforcement officers have, you know, very stressful jobs and a lot of really challenging circumstances that they have to overcome. And so art is a growing form of therapy.”

During submissions, law enforcement officers were asked to share about their experience with art. “I’ve seen the ugly side of life and find joy in highlighting the beauty,” Sgt. Darnell said. “Yes, people in the world in general are far more beautiful than ugly.”

That’s why the exhibit was created for the first time ever. “And I think for us to understand, law enforcement officers see the ugliest,” Canavan said. “You know, they see the worst. The people that they encounter, mostly on a daily basis are having the worst day of their life, you know. And so, to be able to acknowledge that exists but also be capable of seeing the beauty in the world is just an amazing thing.”

For Sgt. Darnell, he’s just doing what he loves. “I don’t consider myself an artist. I just capture the existing and but, to help bring more of a light to the profession and to the art in the Greenville area, it means a lot to me,” he said.

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