The memory and sacrifice of Kentucky’s officers killed in the line of duty will be honored at the Department of Criminal Justice Training’s annual law enforcement memorial ceremony at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 21.
Gov. Steve Beshear will address the families, friends and comrades of Kentucky’s fallen officers. He will be joined by Rebecca Grignon-Reker, widow of fallen Louisville Metro Officer Peter Grignon, who was shot and killed March 23, 2005, while investigating a stolen car report.
The ceremony will be held at the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial, located in front of the John W. Bizzack Law Enforcement Training Complex on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus.
2014 marks another historic year where Kentucky suffered no sworn officer, line-of-duty deaths. However, this year’s ceremony will honor seven Kentucky officers killed in the line of duty between 1858 and 2013, but whose names were not added to the national memorial until recently. One of the criteria for having a name placed on the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial is that it be on the National Law Enforcement Memorial. Those officers’ names are:
• Louisville Police Department Officer George Coulter, died Aug. 17, 1858
• Louisville Police Department Officer Martin Roth, died Oct. 29, 1877
• Louisville Police Department Officer Joseph Boyle, died Oct. 7, 1887
• Paducah Police Department Officer James E. Phelps, died Nov. 8, 1894
• Estill County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Henry T. Reed, died Aug. 21, 1920
• Elliott County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Joseph Carter, died Nov. 9, 1926
• Louisville Police Department Officer Bob W. Branham, died May 14, 2013
The Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial monument stands in memory of nearly every Kentucky peace officer who has been killed in the line of duty. This year’s additions bring the total number of names on the monument to 525.
The memorial foundation was established in 1999 to build the unique memorial. Once the memorial was completed in 2000, the organization expanded its efforts to include an ongoing financial endowment program, which helps Kentucky peace officers and their families with educational, medical and emergency needs.
From the Department of Criminal Justice Training