We honor those who have served ... - Elkhart County Sheriff's ...

We honor those who have served ...
We pray for the day when no more names are added to this
local list or etched onto the marble of the National Peace
Officers’ Memorial in Washington, D.C., because then we’ll
know all of our fine men and women came home safely.
Elkhart Police Department
Officer Willard S. Burton, Oct. 27, 1888
Officer Oren M. Shelmadine, Feb. 9, 1920
Patrolman Henry W. Wentz, Dec. 13, 1924
Patrolman Douglas M. Adams, March 20, 2001
Goshen Police Department
Patrolman Thomas E. Goodwin, Dec. 11, 1998
Nappanee Police Department
Sgt. Brant “Butch” Nine, Nov. 3, 1988
Indiana State Police, Ligonier post
Trooper Richard F. England, April 22, 1942
Trooper Donald R. Turner, Jan. 28, 1956
Indiana State Police, Toll Road post
Master Trooper David A. Deuter, July 16, 1998
Trooper Richard T. Gaston, March 4, 1999
Indiana State Police, Bremen post
Trooper Jason E. Beal, Jan. 15, 2000
Bremen Police Department
Patrolman Tony E. Swartzlander, Feb. 22, 1981
Plymouth Police Department
Patrolman James A. Nelson, Dec. 11, 1967
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department
Sgt. Phillip D. Hochstetler, June 29, 1994
LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department
Deputy Sheriff Harry Spice, Dec. 3, 1937
Officer Gregory O. Cushing, Oct. 30, 1995
LaGrange Police Department
Patrolman Michael L. Waldron, Dec. 7, 1974
St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department
Lt. Deputy James W. Mumford, May 25, 1962
Mishawaka Police Department
Patrolman Clarence Casper, June 10, 1930
Patrolman Bryan S. Verkler, Dec. 13, 2003
Cpl. Thomas Roberts, Dec. 13, 2003
South Bend Police Department
Officer Oscar Christensen, May 11, 1886
Patrolman Samuel Cooper, Nov. 1, 1900
Patrolman Lewis Keller, Feb. 25, 1908
Patrolman Hans B. Brandt, May 22, 1916
Patrolman Fred E. Buhland, Jan. 10, 1921
Patrolman Neil McIntyre, Dec. 25, 1923
Patrolman Lloyd L. Thompson, Feb. 27, 1932
Patrolman Charles E. Farkas Sr., May 27, 1933
Patrolman Delbert Thompson, May 27, 1933
Patrolman Howard C. Wagner, June 30, 1934
Patrolman Ronald St. Germain, Aug. 19, 1967
Cpl. Thomas J. DeRue Sr., Nov. 14, 1974
Cpl. Paul R. Deguch, Aug. 24, 1997
Cpl. Scott Severns, April 23, 2006
Cpl. Nick Polizzotto, April 24, 2007
Sheriff Mike Books and Undersheriff Julie Dijkstra
welcome you to the annual memorial service
honoring law enforcement officers
who made the ultimate sacrifice for the community.
May 15, 2007 • Goshen, Indiana
Invocation
Dan Haifley, sheriff ’s department senior chaplain
and pastor of Grace Bible Baptist Church of Syracuse
National anthem
Ashenafi Abebe of Goshen College
Veterans’ honor
Brig. Gen. Bill Reiff, U.S. Army (retired),
past commander of Goshen VFW Post 985
Keynote speaker
Terry Tyler, sheriff ’s department assistant senior chaplain
and pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Nappanee
Bagpipes
Richard Mao of Mishawaka
Taps
Cpl. Michael Daly of the Elkhart County Sheriff ’s Department
Benediction
Darrel Flaming, sheriff ’s department chaplain
and pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Nappanee
Special thanks to the Wooden Wagon Floral Shoppe for the kind donation,
the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department Honor Guard,
the Bristol Posse, members of the Goshen Fire Department,
Jim Miller of the Elkhart County buildings and grounds department,
and all of the local law enforcement officers who attended the ceremony.

A total of 1,649 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty
during the past 10 years, an average of one death every 53 hours.
During 2006, 145 law enforcement officers were killed,
including one from our area, South Bend Cpl. Scott Severns.
Crime fighting has taken its toll. Since the first recorded
police death in 1792, more than 17,900 law enforcement
officers have been killed in the line of duty. Their names are
engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial in the nation’s capital.
The deadliest decade in law enforcement history was 1970-
79, when a total of 2,275 officers died. The deadliest year in
law enforcement history was 1930, when 279 officers were
killed. That figure dropped dramatically in the 1990s, to an
average of 159 per year.
The deadliest day in law enforcement history was Sept. 11,
2001, when 72 officers were killed while responding to
terrorist attacks on America.
New York City has lost more officers in the line of duty
(688) than any other department. California has lost 1,420
officers, more than any other state.
During the past ten years, more officers were killed on
Friday than any other day of the week. The fewest number
of fatalities occurred on Sunday.
Over the past decade, more officers were killed between 8
and 10 p.m. than during any other two-hour period.
On average, more than 56,000 law enforcement officers are
assaulted each year, resulting in about 16,000 injuries.
More than 870,000 sworn law enforcement officers now
serve in the United States, the highest figure ever.
In 2005, about 5.2 million violent crimes were committed
in the United States, according to statistics compiled by the
federal government.
Violent crimes have declined by 58 percent since 1993.
• Firearm discharges (6,846, 49 percent)
• Automobile crashes (2,090, 15 percent)
• Motorcycle crashes (1,022, 7 percent)
• Struck by vehicles (955, 7 percent)
• Job-related illnesses (588, 4 percent)
The cause of fatalities in the past century:
• Aircraft crashes (311, 2 percent)
• Stabbings (197, 1 percent)
• Falls (147, 1 percent)
• Drownings (142, 1 percent)
• Beatings (134, 1 percent)