SLAIN IN LINE OF DUTY: TV SHOW TO INCLUDE RUOPP MEMORIAL

A former Cape Girardeau County deputy sheriff and San Diego, Calif. police officer will be among several peace officers memorialized in this week's fall premiere of "Top Cops," on CBS television.

The program will be broadcast at 7 p.m. Thursday on KFVS, channel 12. It will pay tribute to peace officers who have died in the line of duty.

Timothy J. Ruopp, 31, formerly of Cape Girardeau, and his partner, San Diego Police Officer Kimberly Tonahill, 24, were fatally wounded on the night of Sept. 14, 1984 during a shoot-out with Joselito "Gerry" Cinco in San Diego's Balboa Park.

Tonahill died instantly, the first female police officer in the history of the San Diego police department to die in the line of duty. Ruopp died of his wounds two days later, on Sept. 16.

Ruopp was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Dudley G. Ruopp, and a brother of Dr. Pat Ruopp, all of Cape Girardeau, and Mrs. Susan Fields of Jackson.

Ruopp's wife, Kathleen, now also lives in Cape Girardeau with their four children, Rebeka, 15, Sarah, 13, Nathan, 12, and Hannah, 10.

Although Thursday's program recalls a traumatic and painful memory for Kathleen Ruopp and her children, she said she is proud that her late husband and his partner are among the officers featured in the program.

"This will be a tribute to Tim and Kim and all the other peace officers who have given their lives to protect others," Ruopp said Monday. "I believe the program will be eye-opening to let people realize what kind of sacrifices are involved.

"I hope the program will make everyone more aware that police officers are people just like themselves, with families, except they carry a badge and a gun to protect and serve other people. Their job is one of sacrifice and love, because they sure don't do it for the money."

Before becoming a San Diego police officer, Timothy Ruopp was a Cape Girardeau County deputy sheriff and assistant jail administrator from August 1979 to November 1981.

He was born in Cape Girardeau in 1952 and attended St. Vincent's Elementary School and Notre Dame High School before graduating in 1971 from Central High School.

Each year, the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department presents the Tim Ruopp Award to one of its outstanding officers, reflecting the professionalism displayed by Ruopp when he was a deputy.

Kathleen Ruopp said she and the children plan to watch the program Thursday. She said its content isn't anything they haven't already had to face and overcome.

"Fortunately, the producers make sure the actors who reenact the events in the program do not physically resemble the officers," said Ruopp. "I am very thankful the actor who will portray Tim does not look like him."

Ruopp said she learned about the special "Top Cops" episode from Gary Mitrovich, a fellow San Diego police officer and friend of her late husband's.

Mitrovich was wounded when he responded to Ruopp's call for assistance in Balboa Park. He later recovered and continues to serve with the San Diego Police Department.

"Gary will narrate the segment on Tim and Kim," Ruopp said. "When the producers asked Gary if he wanted to bring someone with him to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to watch the filming of the reenactment of the shooting, he called me in June and asked if I wanted to go."

But Ruopp's brother returned to San Diego from Saudi Arabia during the shooting of the film segment. Although she had to leave before the filming was finished, Ruopp did meet and talk with the show's producer and writers.

"I read the script and suggested some changes that would reflect what actually happened and some personal things about Tim," she said. "They were very good about making changes.

"They wanted the script to be as authentic as possible. They were very concerned about the families of the police officers."

She said the special memorial program was not scheduled to air until October, but the producers decided to switch it to the premiere episode.

The program coincides with the ground breaking of a national peace officers memorial wall in Washington, D.C.

"I have been told that President (George) Bush will present the introduction to the program," Ruopp added.

Ruopp and her children moved to Cape Girardeau in March 1989, three months after the man who killed her husband committed suicide on San Quentin Prison's death row.

Ruopp said Cinco's suicide led her to return to Cape Girardeau.

"I decided to stay while the appeals process was going on," she said. "Once his death occurred, I wanted to move to Cape Girardeau where Tim's family and relatives live.

"I felt like there was a real need for a connection with his family to help my children realize what kind of a person their father was, and let them get to know their aunts and uncles and grandparents in Missouri."