What may have been one of the most touching moments ever at the annual Police Memorial Service on Friday may have gone unnoticed by many.
After the names of U.S. law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty in 2020 were read, a woman in an SUV who had just come off the Robert N. Stewart Bridge pulled to the side of the street, got out of her vehicle and saluted during the traditional 21-gun salute and the playing of “Taps.”
It wasn’t very noticeable to many in the Public Safety Plaza in downtown Columbus because no drivers who stopped behind her van honked their horns or yelled. They also quietly stopped and showed their respect.
Since the ceremony was canceled a year ago, the 2019 event listed 163 U.S. officers killed in the line of duty the previous year. But that number skyrocketed to 362 law men and law women who died while doing their jobs in 2020.
The Officer Down Memorial Page states that nearly 65% of all U.S. officers who lost their lives in 2020 died of complications caused by COVID-19. Among them was Detective Sgt. Te’Juan Fontrese “T.J.” Johnson of the Charlestown Police Department, who died on Dec. 2.
Some of the nearly 50 civilians in attendance were expecting recognition of local Emergency Medical Technician Scott Gordon of Columbus, who also died of COVID-19 complications in November. But the annual ceremony has traditionally been kept to law enforcement personnel only, Columbus Fire Chief Andy Lay said.
In earlier ceremonies, Columbus Police Officer Julie Quesenbery read all the names. But there were so many lives lost in 2020 that Quesenbery shared the responsibility Friday with two Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies — Sgt. Andrew Whipker and Deputy Grant Carlson.
The other two Indiana officers killed in the line of duty last year were Richmond Police Officer Kenneth Reid Lester, who was killed during an automobile crash on Feb. 10, and Indianapolis Police Officer Breann R. Leath, who was killed by gunfire on April 9.
The recognition of the death of Bartholomew County Sheriff’s K9 Diesel on Nov. 9 was kept simple with a sustained salute by Sheriff Matt Myers as Quesenbery described how the dog was hit by a vehicle on Interstate 65 while pursuing a suspect.
The last police officer killed in the line of duty in Bartholomew County was Indiana State Police trooper Earl L. Brown, who died Aug. 31, 1955, after being shot by a suspicious person who was walking on what is now State Road 11 near Columbus. The local Fraternal Order of Police lodge is named in his honor.
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Total Line of Duty Deaths in U.S.: 362
- 9/11 related illness – 14
- Aircraft accident -1
- Assault -1
- Automobile crash – 19
- COVID 19 – 234
- Drowned – 4
- Duty related illness – 5
- Gunfire – 45
- Gunfire (Inadvertent) – 4
- Heart attack – 7
- Heatstroke – 1
- Motorcycle crash – 4
- Struck by vehicle – 8
- Vehicle pursuit – 2
- Vehicular assault – 13
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In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day – and the week in which that date falls as Police Week.
The observance pays tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty.
The event is sponsored by the National Fraternal Order of Police and is implemented by the FOP Memorial Committee.
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For more photos of the ceremony, go to therepublic.com.
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