Well, Mom, it took longer than you thought. . .

Officer Dolly washes off after attack, returns to duty
BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle
They spotted the patrol car next to Kellogg and opened fire.

By the time the assault was over shortly after 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, the shooters had left their mark: several green paintball splatters on Officer Dolly's car.

"We're going to give her three days off for recuperation... just like we would with any officer" who has been through a serious incident, Patrol West Capt. Joe Dessenberger joked about the uniformed mannequin. She has been used since late January to slow traffic on Kellogg and other thoroughfares where speeding has been rampant.

Police aren't sure who the culprits are in the attack, which happened while she was parked on the south side of Kellogg near the West Street exit.

Dolly isn't saying anything.

"We expected it," Dessenberger said. "It was only a matter of time before something like this happened."

Officers dispatched to check on Dolly's welfare drove her vehicle through a car wash and sent her back out on watch elsewhere on Kellogg. She kept a stiff upper lip through it all.

Dolly has been doing her job well since she went on duty, Dessenberger said: Traffic slows wherever she's on watch.

"It seems to be working," he said. "It keeps people guessing, and that's what we want."