Thursday, October 28, 2010

Police Week 2011 Ride - Join Today


If you're planning on attending Police Week 2011 and have an interest in cycling then you must consider riding for Law Enforcement United (LEU).

LEU is made up of over 400 law enforcement officers from across the country. These riders, and their support personnel, converge on Chesapeake, Va., to kick off their three day, 250 mile ride that ends at the Pentagon Memorial just outside of Washington, DC. Meeting them at the memorial are hundreds of survivors of fallen law enforcement officers who are in town for the essential Concerns of Police Survivors grief seminars, Candlelight Vigil, and other memorial events that occur throughout the week.

Why must you ride?

100% of the money you and other LEU riders raise is donated to Concerns of Police Survivors and the ODMP. Last year, following their inaugural ride, LEU was able to donate $100,000 to COPS and $20,000 to ODMP. These donations are critical for the ability of both organizations to provide essential services to survivors and law enforcement officers who have been affected by a line of duty death. Your daily visits to the ODMP is made possible because of LEU!

So, don't just come to Police Week. Participate in Police Week. Learn more about LEU and make that commitment to join today.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

21 Shades of Blue, Brown and Green

Yesterday's article about the sacrifices made by airport police officers and hospital police officers elicited an amazing amount of positive feedback from LEOs around the country. The feedback proved one thing: No matter the color of the uniform, or the wording on the badge, cops have each other's backs. Like with any family there's a little infighting, but when push comes to shove on the streets, every cop out there knows they can count on their brothers and sisters, whether it be across jurisdictional lines, state borders, or international boundaries.

Much of the feedback that was posted to the ODMP's Facebook page pointed out additional types of specialized agencies that are often overlooked, such as campus police, transit police, housing police, etc. Future articles that will appear here on the ODMP Blog will discuss the contributions and sacrifices made by officers in each of these fields.

In preparation for those articles, I thought it would be helpful to let visitors know how the ODMP classifies agencies. We came up with classification system only for statistical purposes, so we could answer common questions, such as "how many corrections officers have been killed in the line of duty?" We've done our best to fit every type of agency out there into one of 21 different classifications. But at the end of the day, whether a fallen officer wore the traditional blue uniform of a city cop, the standard brown of a deputy sheriff, or conservation green, we treat them with the equal amount of respect and honor that they so rightfully deserve.

As of October 26, 2010, here's the number of officers who have fallen in the 21 different categories of law enforcement:

Airport, Harbor, Port, Railroad & Transit:265
Border Protection, Customs & Immigration:219
Capitol Police & Asset Protection:26
Code Enforcement:1
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement:11
Controlled Substances Law Enforcement:148
Corrections, Probation & Parole:573
Court Services Law Enforcement:35
Criminal Investigative Agencies:537
Educational Institutions Law Enforcement:44
Elected Constable Law Enforcement:262
Health & Hospital Law Enforcement:11
Highway Patrol & State Police:1,633
Housing Law Enforcement:32
Military & Department of Defense Law Enforcement:69
Natural Resources & Wildlife Law Enforcement:284
Parks, Recreation & Marine Law Enforcement:138
Police (Municipal & County):11,720
Sheriff (Municipal & County):4,057
Tax & Revenue Enforcement:144
Tribal Law Enforcement:91

Monday, October 25, 2010

Yes, Airport and Hospital Police Are 'Real' Cops

In 1974, the FAA Police, which
later became the MWAA Police
was the first airport
agency to lose an officer
in the line of duty.
Last night I had the duty of picking my wife up from Dulles International Airport. After the second loop past the arrivals pickup area I stopped my car for a few minutes to wait for her and took the opportunity, while I was stopped in the "no waiting" area of course, to check my email and the latest correspondence from the ODMP contact form. I was amazed at the coincidence to see this question from an airport police officer in Ohio:
Do you consider airport or hospital police if they are killed in the line of duty?
No sooner had I finished reading the question then I was shooed away from the no waiting area by a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) PD police officer.

The answer to the above question is "yes." Any law enforcement officer in America who is killed in the line of duty is eligible to be included on the Officer Down Memorial Page. It doesn't matter if they work for a municipal, state, federal, or specialized agency: Airports, hospitals, harbors, railroads, etc. To the ODMP, a police officer is a police officer is a police officer. We make no distinction on a police officer's eligibility based on the type of agency they work for.

Like the PSOB program, Concerns of Police Survivors, the National Memorial, and other national organizations, the ODMP does have a criteria for inclusion that we adhere to when making determinations on when a potential line of duty death is eligible, but that mostly revolves around the circumstance of the death rather than the type of agency (with very few exceptions). To make a long story short, if a law enforcement officer has some sort of arrest authority and is killed/dies as a result of having that authority then he/she will probably be eligible to be included on the ODMP.

With that, I'd like to specifically honor those airport and hospital police officers who have been killed in the line of duty:

Airport Police Officers Killed in the Line of Duty

Private William Edward Connor United States Department of Transportation - Federal Aviation Administration Police, US 1974-01-12
Officer George Neal Ramsburg Maryland Aviation Administration Police Department, MD 1974-02-22
Police Officer Garland L. Garrison Will Rogers Airport Police Department, OK 1979-09-19
Officer James Douglas Bossen Indianapolis International Airport Police Department, IN 1982-02-05
Officer William Moss Houston Airport Police Department, TX 1983-09-12
Officer Kenneth Stanley Baldwin Okaloosa County Airport Police Department, FL 1987-09-11
Officer Michael Capparelli Chicago Department of Aviation Police, IL 1992-03-27
Corporal Richard David Barreda Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport Police Department, TX 1997-02-14
Officer John Michael Richardson Nashville International Airport Police, TN 1999-04-29
Chief of Safety John Ross Juneau Southwest Georgia Regional Airport Police Department, GA 2003-05-02
Sergeant Michael Allen Scarbrough Wayne County Airport Authority Police Department, MI 2005-02-09
Police Officer Tommy Edward Scott Los Angeles World Airports Police Department, CA 2005-04-29

Hospital Police Officers Killed in the Line of Duty

Quarantine Guard Ira Trueman Hill United States Department of Health and Human Services - Public Health Service, US 1919-06-01
Police Officer Marvin C. Bland United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police, US 1985-09-06
Police Officer Mark S. Decker United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police, US 1986-01-31
Police Officer Leonard B. Wilcox United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police, US 1986-01-31
Police Officer Ronald Hearn United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police, US 1988-07-25
Officer Harry Cantave New York City Health and Hospital Police Department, NY 1990-08-22
Police Officer Garry A. Ross United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police, US 1990-12-24
Captain James Rodriguez New York City Health and Hospital Police Department, NY 1992-03-19
Police Officer Horst Harold Woods United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police, US 1996-01-10
Sergeant James C. Low New York City Health and Hospital Police Department, NY 1999-02-01
Police Officer Jose Oscar Rodriguez-Reyes United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police, US 2002-04-24
Officer Monte Ruby CoxHealth Department of Public Safety, MO 2008-08-06

Did we fail to list any officers in the lists above? If so, fill out the comment form below with their names and agencies.

Monday, October 18, 2010

ODMP Research [Not So] Secrets Revealed

Over the past ten years, one of the missions of the Officer Down Memorial Page has been to ensure that “forgotten” line of duty deaths are properly recognized by the agencies for which an officer worked, by the appropriate state memorial and by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC.

A “forgotten” line of duty death is an officer who died in the line of duty in the past, typically far in the past, whose death is not currently recognized by the agency for which the officer worked and/or does not appear on any local, state, or national law enforcement memorials.

The researchers at the ODMP have spent a lot of time conducting historical research into line of duty deaths, some dating back to the early 1800s.  The ODMP has uncovered and confirmed the line of duty death status of 839 forgotten officers.  275 of these officers have been accepted by their agencies as line of duty deaths and their names have been added to the appropriate memorials.  564 of the newly discovered line of duty deaths are still pending review by their agencies, but have already been added to the ODMP.  In addition, the ODMP is still researching several hundred forgotten deaths to confirm their line of duty death status.

A forgotten line of duty death is normally uncovered in one of three ways:
  1. Newspaper research that reveals information about an unrecorded death. Basically a researcher looks though old newspapers looking for any articles on possible line of duty deaths that have not be recognized.
  2. Discovery while doing research into known line of duty death. Most of the time this happens when another (unrecorded) line of duty death is mentioned in an article or on an adjacent article while researchers are obtaining information on another death.
  3. Submissions from ODMP visitors, such as descendants or law enforcement personnel.

When a possible forgotten line of duty death is uncovered, the ODMP volunteer begins by identifying the location of the incident and any local newspapers that were published at the time of the incident.  The researcher will then begin with the newspaper research.  That may require requesting microfilm through inter-library loan, or traveling to a location to review the relevant newspapers.  The researcher will then backtrack in the newspaper from the date of death of an officer, to find the first article that mentions the incident in which the officer was killed.  Again, that could be the previous day, or it could be six month, a year or even more into the past.  As the researcher searches through the newspaper back to the date of original incident, he will copy each article that mentions the officer in question.  The researcher will then move forward from the date of incident and locate any articles related to the death, including the trial of any perpetrators (when applicable).  This can sometimes take the researcher years from the original incident date, but not always.  With the older line of duty deaths, the task of find out the outcome of any trials may not be as hard as it sounds.  The justice system moved much quicker in the past, and many times a cop killer was tried, convicted and executed within months of the original incident, so the articles are not spread over a long period of time.

In order to fully document an incident and confirm the circumstances, the researcher will try to locate articles in at least two different newspaper publications from the area where the incident took place.  In large towns or cities that is normally easy as many larger cities have multiple newspapers being published in the area.  In some smaller towns or rural areas, it may not always be possible, due to the lack of newspaper coverage.

Next, a researcher will try to find any Department records that an agency may have about an officer’s death.  Many times an agency has records they don’t even know about, stored away in a basement in an old log book that has not been looked at in decades.

Newspaper article and command log
detailing Sergeant William Hurley's death
The death of Sergeant William Hurley, of the Oyster Bay Cove, New York, Police Department, was uncovered in late 2003 by the ODMP. His name was added to the New York Sate Police Officers Memorial and to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in May 2005. The ODMP researcher was able to obtain numerous newspaper articles about his death from both small-town and national newspapers. A search through old department logbooks from 1940 also turned up an entry referencing his tragic death. The logbook was found in the records room of the Oyster Bay Cove Police Headquarters and helped to confirm what newspaper accounts had said; that Sergeant Hurley died in the performance of his official police duties.

The next step in the research process is to obtain a death certificate or a death ledger entry for the fallen officer.  The process to locate that is different in each state, and sometimes even varies by locality. The best way to locate a death certificate is online.  By using a search engine to locate the vital records office for a county, a researcher can usually get the information they need quickly as to how to obtain a death certificate.  Normally there is a fee to obtain a death certificate, and each vital records office has different rules and regulations as to who they will release a death certificate to.

Once all the documentation is gathered up, the researcher can determine if the officer’s death qualifies as a line of duty death, based on the ODMP criteria for inclusion. Each death the ODMP discovers is evaluated against the criteria.  If an officer is determined to be eligible for inclusion, a memorial will be created on the ODMP.

Finally, the researcher will work to have the officer officially recognized by his/her agency and added to local, state and the National Memorial. Copies of all documents located will be turned over to the agency and the researcher will assist with filling out the necessary applications for any state memorial that might exist and for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, so that all that an agency head needs to do is review the documents, sign the application, and mail it to the appropriate memorial. Unbelievably, this is generally the most difficult task to get accomplished!

The Officer Down Memorial Page adds new memorials for newly discovered officers quite often.  To view the 100 most recent additions go to: http://www.odmp.org/search/historical

Steve Weiss
Director of Research

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Texas Suffers 13th Fallen Officer This Year

At approximately 1:00 am MDT yesterday morning, two El Paso patrolmen were dispatched to a non-emergency call. As they drove through an intersection on the way to the location their patrol car was struck so violently by a drunk driver that it was pushed into a nearby utility pole.

Patrolman
Karl McDonough
The crash left the driver of the patrol car with very serious injuries. The passenger, Patrolman Karl McDonough, became the 13th law enforcement officer this year to be killed in the line of duty in Texas.

Even though California is the state with the country's largest population (by 1/3 more than Texas), since 2007 Texas has led the nation in the number of law enforcement deaths annually. In 2007 alone, 24 local, state, and federal LEOs have lost their lives there.

In addition to the "common" dangers of drunk drivers, our brothers and sisters in Texas also face increasing dangers posed by the illegal narcotics and human smuggling operations and the violent subculture that controls it. With the additional resources being thrown at the border by the Department of Homeland Security, it is inevitable that cartels will push back, leading to increased assaults on our officers, both on the border and in Texas' interior counties and cities.

We urge officers everywhere to always work with a heightened sense of awareness, but can't stress this point enough to our warriors in Texas and the other border states. We do this in the memory of those Texas lawmen who we have lost this year and in years prior:

Police Officer Craig Story Arlington Police Department, TX 2010-01-13
Officer Timothy Joseph Zurovetz Forest Hill Police Department, TX 2010-03-24
Constable John W. Brown Calhoun County Constable's Office - Precinct 5, TX 2010-04-10
Deputy Sheriff Jacob Rene Rayos Reeves County Sheriff's Department, TX 2010-04-11
Officer Rodney Holder Abilene Police Department, TX 2010-04-29
Police Officer Eydelmen Mani Houston Police Department, TX 2010-05-19
Border Patrol Agent Mark Van Doren United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Border Patrol, US 2010-05-24
Deputy Sheriff Eddie Wotipka Harris County Sheriff's Department, TX 2010-06-10
Police Officer Craig Shaw Lancaster Police Department, TX 2010-06-20
Police Officer Leonard Reed Cedar Park Police Department, TX 2010-08-18
Corrections Officer Kellie Pena Texas Department of Criminal Justice, TX 2010-09-03
Corporal David Ralph Slaton Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas Highway Patrol, TX 2010-09-20
Patrolman Karl R. McDonough El Paso Police Department, TX 2010-10-13

Monday, October 11, 2010

Tribal Police Face Increased Dangers in Indian Country

Over the weekend word spread of the loss of Officer Merrill Bruguier. Officer Bruguier had the distinction of serving within one of the most unique law enforcement settings in America: tribal policing. He began his career with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Police in 1996 as a detention officer and became a police officer in 2002. On the morning of Saturday, October 9, 2010, Officer Bruguier was killed in a single vehicle crash while on duty.

In the past 10 years, only seven tribal law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. Two of those losses have occurred this year. In addition to Officer Bruguier, Police Officer Joshua Yazzie was killed in an automobile accident on the Ute Indian Reservation in Utah while serving with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Law Enforcement.

According to the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, there are over 200 tribal police departments in America, staffed with only 2,300 officers. Just like traditional agencies, these range from small 2-officer departments to departments with over 200+ officers protecting 250,000 citizens in an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Unlike traditional agencies, these officers often work alone in extremely remote areas with no hope for a quick response from backup officers. At the same time, they are combating crime created by a higher than normal rate of alcohol and drug abuse.

Reservations that lie on or near the U.S. / Mexican border, such as the Tohono O'Odham Nation, also have to deal with the very dangerous reality of narcotics and human smuggling operations orchestrated by Mexican drug cartels. Four U.S. Border Patrol agents and one U.S. Customs Service patrol officer have been killed in the line of duty on the reservation since 1986.

In total, 51 members of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Law Enforcement and 40 members of individual tribal police departments have been killed in the line of duty. We join the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial at FLETC-Artesia in honoring these fallen heroes:

Patch image: Ak-Chin Tribal Police Department, AZAk-Chin Tribal Police Department
Maricopa, AZ
Fallen officers: 2
Patch image: Cherokee Nation Marshal's Service, OKCherokee Nation Marshal's Service
Tahlequah, OK
Fallen officers: 3
Patch image: Colville Tribal Police Department, WAColville Tribal Police Department
Nespelem, WA
Fallen officers: 2
Patch image: Crow Nation Tribal Police Department, MTCrow Nation Tribal Police Department
Crow Agency, MT
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Police Department, NVFallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Police Department
Fallon, NV
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Flathead Indian Nation Police Department, MTFlathead Indian Nation Police Department
Pablo, MT
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Hannahville Tribal Police Department, MIHannahville Tribal Police Department
Wilson, MI
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Jicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department, NMJicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department
Dulce, NM
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Miccosukee Tribal Police Department, FLMiccosukee Tribal Police Department
Miami, FL
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Navajo Division of Public Safety, AZNavajo Division of Public Safety
Window Rock, AZ
Fallen officers: 8
Patch image: Oglala Sioux Tribal Police, SDOglala Sioux Tribal Police
Pine Ridge, SD
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Oneida Tribal Police Department, WIOneida Tribal Police Department
Oneida, WI
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma Police, OKOtoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma Police
Red Rock, OK
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Police Department, NMPojoaque Pueblo Tribal Police Department
Santa Fe, NM
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Quinault Tribal Police Department, WAQuinault Tribal Police Department
Taholah, WA
Fallen officers: 2
Patch image: Rocky Boy's Tribal Police Department, MTRocky Boy's Tribal Police Department
Box Elder, MT
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: San Carlos Apache Tribal Police Department, AZSan Carlos Apache Tribal Police Department
San Carlos, AZ
Fallen officers: 3
Patch image: San Ildefonso Pueblo Tribal Police, NMSan Ildefonso Pueblo Tribal Police
Santa Fe, NM
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Seminole Nation of Oklahoma Lighthorsemen Police, OKSeminole Nation of Oklahoma Lighthorsemen Police
Wewoka, OK
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Seminole Tribe of Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FLSeminole Tribe of Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Hollywood, FL
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Tohono O'odham Nation Police Department, AZTohono O'odham Nation Police Department
Sells, AZ
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Division of Law Enforcement, DCUnited States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Division of Law Enforcement
Washington, DC
Fallen officers: 51
Patch image: Ute Mountain Tribal Police Department, COUte Mountain Tribal Police Department
Towaoc, CO
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Warm Springs Tribal Police Department, ORWarm Springs Tribal Police Department
Warm Springs, OR
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: White Mountain Apache Tribal Police Department, AZWhite Mountain Apache Tribal Police Department
Whiteriver, AZ
Fallen officers: 1
Patch image: Yakama Nation Tribal Police Department, WAYakama Nation Tribal Police Department
Toppenish, WA
Fallen officers: 1

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Successful Suicide By Cop is Not the Cop's Fault

Two days ago a New York City man called 911 and told the dispatcher "I want you to call the cops ‘cause I’m ready to kill. … I’m ready to kill some cops right now." Not surprisingly, the cops came. Thankfully they all went home.

However, the knife-wielding man who made the threat was killed after verbal commands and the use of a Taser failed to stop his threatening advances. All indications point to proper procedure being followed. Nonetheless, within hours, a media-seeking city councilman immediately started criticizing the responding officers and blaming them for the man's death. The councilman stated further: "No one...would kill a cop when all they had was a 4-inch knife."

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Officer Gary Coe
The first of 400 police officers to have been fatally stabbed in the line of duty nationwide was Watchman Christian Luswanger of the New York City Watch - the original NYPD! In addition to Watchman Luswanger, 23 other NYPD officers have been fatally stabbed in the line of duty including Officer Gary Coe, who was stabbed five times, with none other than a "four-inch utility knife," in 1989.

Since the earliest days of American law enforcement, edged weapons have posed a real and deadly threat to officers patrolling our streets and supervising inmates in our prisons. To dismiss a "4-inch knife" as a non-threat and to criticize officers for defending themselves from getting stabbed is extremely naive.

I am extremely thankful that Sunday's incident didn't add any more names of stabbing victims to the NYPD Memorial Wall at Battery Park.

Watchman Christian Luswanger Thursday, December 25, 1806
New York City Watch, NY
Watchman Lewis L. Leuba Wednesday, April 13, 1836
New York City Watch, NY
Watchman Kim Hudson Sunday, August 28, 1836
New York City Watch, NY
Sergeant Michael Foster Monday, August 4, 1851
New York Municipal Police Force, NY
Patrolman David Gourley Sunday, November 5, 1854
New York Municipal Police Force, NY
Patrolman Stephen P. Hardenbrook Wednesday, April 15, 1857
New York Municipal Police Force, NY 3 years
Patrolman David Martin Tuesday, August 6, 1861
New York Metropolitan Police Force, NY
Patrolman Robert S. McChesney Saturday, October 19, 1867
New York Metropolitan Police Force, NY 2 months
Patrolman Charles Thompson Sunday, December 1, 1867
New York Metropolitan Police Force, NY
Sergeant James McGiven Monday, July 24, 1876
New York Municipal Police Department, NY
Patrolman James North Friday, August 21, 1885
New York Municipal Police Department, NY
Patrolman John J. Sherman Tuesday, September 1, 1891
New York Police Department, NY 5 years
Patrolman Robert J. Thorpe Monday, August 13, 1900
New York City Police Department, NY
Patrolman Charles L. Horn Monday, October 8, 1900
New York City Police Department, NY 5 years
Sergeant Joseph H. McNierney Friday, October 3, 1913
New York City Police Department, NY 18 years
Patrolman Leroy J. Sheares Monday, April 20, 1936
New York City Police Department, NY 3 years
Sergeant Edward J. Johnson Jr. Friday, January 8, 1960
New York City Police Department, NY 11 years
Patrolman Anthony F. Campisi Friday, November 4, 1966
New York City Police Department, NY
Patrolman Lawrence Stefane Thursday, May 28, 1970
New York City Police Department, NY 3 years
Probationary Patrolman Patrick M. Canavan Monday, September 7, 1970
New York City Police Department, NY 2 months
Patrolman Michael W. Paolillo Wednesday, September 23, 1970
New York City Police Department, NY
Patrolman Robert L. Denton Saturday, July 24, 1971
New York City Police Department, NY 2 years
Police Officer Gary C. Coe Saturday, November 11, 1989
New York City Police Department, NY 4 years
Detective Jaime Betancourt Sunday, March 31, 2002
New York City Police Department, NY 9 years

Monday, October 4, 2010

Days From Retirement...

After last week's two articles about the shortest serving and longest serving officers who were killed in the line of duty, I received the following question:

"With your recent listings of officers lost on their first day and with 40 or more years of service, I was curious to know if there have been any LODDs involving the infamous cop movie cliche of "two weeks to retirement". I figure that overworked subplot had to originate in reality somewhere."
Sadly, this cliche is based in fact. After looking through the ODMP's records I was able to identify 19 officers who were killed after having announced their retirement - some within days of reaching it. In two cases, the lawmen were killed in the line of duty after coming out of retirement to fill in for staffing shortages.

Chief Walter Braswell
Officer Joseph Dardis
In 1965, Chief of Police Walter Braswell was shot and killed two months after coming out of retirement to fill in as Fremont, N.C., looked for a new chief. Chief Braswell had already served 40 years as a police officer! The other incident occurred in 1944 when 72-year-old Officer Joseph Dardis came out of retirement in Beacon, N.Y., to help out due to WWII staff shortages. As the young men of the town were off fighting and dying in the war, Officer Dardis died while fighting with a U.S. Navy deserter who was walking the streets.

Both of these heroes had already survived the streets and did not have to return to duty in their latter years but did. Like those who went before them, and those who fell after them, they were protectors and warriors. We will never let them be forgotten.

Killed days from retirement:

Sergeant Michael J. (Owshaney) Lawrence Minneapolis Police Department, MN 1925-12-30
Deputy Sheriff Ernest C. Prouty Jasper County Sheriff's Department, IN 1931-01-04
Night Watchman Charles O. Riske Moulton Police Department, TX 1935-03-02
Police Officer Eugene J. Chavis Philadelphia Police Department, PA 1944-05-20
Police Officer Joseph Dardis Beacon Police Department, NY 1944-07-24
Sergeant James McCullough Flint Police Department, MI 1952-02-28
Lieutenant John William Hood Cobb County Police Department, GA 1960-06-25
Chief of Police Walter Brannon Braswell Fremont Police Department, NC 1965-11-13
Deputy Warren LaRue Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, AZ 1971-01-18
Patrolman Frank Buczek Plainfield Police Department, NJ 1971-09-18
Patrolman Donald A. Brown Boston Police Department, MA 1974-05-24
Police Officer Richard F. Gipson Chicago Police Department, IL 1981-02-04
Patrolman Jerome Victor Haaf Minneapolis Police Department, MN 1992-09-25
Lieutenant Herbert Berkeley Stovall Jr. Peralta Community College District Police Department, CA 1995-08-16
Officer Terry Eugene Foster Independence Police Department, MO 2001-03-17
Police Officer John Perry New York City Police Department, NY 2001-09-11
Lieutenant Charles A. (Bo) Harrison Pasco County Sheriff's Office, FL 2003-06-01
Corporal Cesar Velazquez Hainesville Police Department, IL 2009-05-15
Chief of Police Daniel K. Duncan Lake Oswego Police Department, OR 2010-05-20

This is likely not a complete list, due to lack of reporting or loss of records from departments. If you are familiar with any additional cases, please post them in the comments form below or submit an update to their memorial on the ODMP.