Friday’s Heroes: Special Edition
As we approach the close of National Police Week, we would like to take a moment to pay tribute to the 41 officers who died in the line of duty so far this year.
I wish the list would stop here, never reaching 42, unfortunately it won’t. The number of fallen officers is already 21% above this same time last year. In the previous five years alone, 765 law enforcement officers died while serving their communities.
In police agencies all across the U.S. and its territories, the following officers are no longer here to answer roll call. They’ve each reached the end of their watch.
You gave your all to protect and serve us, and for that we are eternally grateful.
Agent Mayra Ramírez-Barreto
Puerto Rico Department of Justice
Correctional Officer Eliezer Colón-Claussells
Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Officer Kevin A. Tonn
Galt California Police Department
Trooper Michael Slagle
Tennessee Highway Patrol
Sergeant Rick Riggenbach
Chitimacha Tribal Police Department
Officer William Michael McGary
Conway Arkansas Police Department
Sergeant Patrick Divers
New York City Police Department
Officer Patricia A. “Patty” Parete
Buffalo New York Police Department
Deputy Sheriff Billy Ray Grimsley
Portsmouth Virginia Sheriff’s Office
Public Safety Officer Keith Lawrence
University of Southern California Department of Public Safety
Officer Michael Crain
Riverside California Police Department
Detective Jeremiah MacKay
San Bernardino County California Sheriff’s Department
Detective Christopher Simpson
Chesterfield Missouri Police Department
Officer Josh Lynaugh
St. Paul Minnesota Police Department
Senior Officer Specialist Eric Williams
United States Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Prisons
Sergeant Loran “Butch” Baker
Santa Cruz California Police Department
Detective Elizabeth Butler
Santa Cruz California Police Department
Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati
United States Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Prisons
Sergeant Gary Morales
St. Lucie County Florida Sheriff’s Office
Corporal Terry Johnson
Sebastian County Arkansas Sheriff’s Office
Master Trooper Junius A. Walker
Virginia State Police
Village Public Safety Officer Thomas O. Madole
Alaska State Troopers
Police Chief Randy Boykin
Enterprise Mississippi Police Department
Executive Director Tom Clements
Colorado Department of Corrections
Sergeant Gilbert Cortez
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Director Larry Johnson
Fifth Judicial District Arkansas Drug Task Force
Trooper James Sauter
Illinois State Police
Trooper Tage Toll
Alaska State Troopers
Correctional Officer Brandon Elliot Kountz
United States Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Prisons
Sheriff Eugene Crum
Mingo County West Virginia Sheriff’s Office
Detective Eric Smith
Jackson Mississippi Police Department
Deputy Sheriff Hans Fifer
Faulkner County Arkansas Sheriff’s Office
Chief of Police Anthony Q. Barfield, Sr.
Barwick Georgia Police Department
Officer Donald Bishop
Town of Brookfield Wisconsin Police Department
Assistant Warden Peggy Sylvester
Opelousas Louisiana Police Department
Officer Sean Collier
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Department
Deputy Sheriff Chad Christian Key
Grayson County Texas Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Sheriff Douglas Leon Hanna
Washita County Oklahoma Sheriff’s Office
Master Deputy Sheriff Joseph “Shane” Robbins
Polk County Florida Sheriff’s Office
Patrolman William J. “Jerry” McCarthy, IV
Shenango Township Pennsylvania Police Department
Officer Tim Huffman
Arizona Department of Public Safety
RIP, Officers.