New Holland is a quiet, secure, law-abiding town. But the moral of Burnell Imhoff's story accentuates the dangerous and risky nature of police work, no matter where it is performed.

"There was crime back then, but New Holland was probably a pretty safe place," said Mike Zimmerman, who worked as a police officer in New Holland from 1996 to 2004. "But people were people, and crime was crime. Things did happen; things were still going on.

"New Holland was probably a smaller town at a quieter time," Zimmerman added. "But there still was crime. Was it like it is today? No. But it still existed."

Burnell Imhoff is the only New Holland police officer to ever die in the line of duty. When Zimmerman, a bit of a history buff, became acquainted with Imhoff's story, he began to do a bit of digging, a little investigating - more the kind that researchers do than the kind that cops do.

He began reading newspaper accounts of Imhoff's untimely passing and speaking with members of his family.

"I'm sort of the unofficial historian of the New Holland police department," said Zimmerman. "I had heard from older officers about a police officer in New Holland who was killed. I wanted to know about it, so I started digging into it. We had nothing in the police department that honored him."

Some 87 years ago - June of 1939 to be precise - Imhoff was a police chief/police officer on New Holland's small law enforcement force. He was responding to a fairly innocuous matter when fate intervened.

"He was a pretty hard-working chief; he made a lot of arrests, a lot of significant arrests," said Zimmerman. "He was going down Main Street for a traffic violation. A girl went through a stop sign - they didn't have stop lights at that time - pulls out in front of him, and he swerves around her at Main Street and Custer Avenue, hits the curb, is thrown from his bike (motorcycle) and into the Cozy Corner Restaurant.

"A doctor shows up at the scene and says, 'You'll be OK. Go home and rest,'" continued Zimmerman. "That night, he was rushed to St. Joe's Hospital, and three days later he died of internal injuries."

Imhoff was born and raised in Lititz, and he served his country as a machine gunner in World War I, where he received a Purple Heart medal due to an injury from a gas attack. Imhoff eventually gravitated toward law enforcement and was a constable before he became a police officer.

"He was a family man; he was married with three children," said Zimmerman, a resident of Akron. "He first started out as a game warden in Clay Township. He gets into police work in New Holland and becomes the police chief. Back then, New Holland was small and it was a one-man force, it was a one-man show."

"He wanted a patrol car," Zimmerman added, "and (town) officials said, 'No. You must use your own car. But we will give you a motorcycle.'"

Through his research, Zimmerman collected photos, medals, badges and memorabilia associated with Imhoff's passing and created shadow boxes. Those shadow boxes have found their way to the New Holland Area Historical Society.

Since 1919, 14 Lancaster County police officers have died in the line of duty.

"Most people don't know his story," said Zimmerman. "Some who love history probably do. People who love history research specific topics. My love of history is more police- and crime-related because I was a police officer.

"I love history," concluded Zimmerman. "I love American history. I love local history. But my focus is crime."