Memorial to Oregon's fallen officers includes 10 from Lane County; ceremony Tuesday

SALEM, Ore. - Oregon will honor 183 fallen law enforcement officers Tuesday at a memorial service at the Oregon Public Safety Academy.

"The memorial honors 183 fallen Oregon law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty since the 1880s," according to organizers. "This includes officers from city, county, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies who have served as law enforcement officers, corrections officers, and parole and probation officers."

The Oregon Fallen Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Ceremony is schedule to last an hour. It begins at 1 p.m. at 4190 Aumsville Highway SE, in Salem.

The memorial includes the names of the three Eugene Police Officers killed in the line of duty: Officer Oscar Duly (1930); Officer Jesse Jennings Jackson (1934); and Officer Chris Kilcullen (2011).

State records don't show any fatalities for Springfield Police, and officers there now are unaware of any losses in the line of duty.

The Lane County Sheriff's Office has lost 7 men in the line of duty.

The most recent, Sgt. Carl L. Frazier, died of a heart attack in 1979 while responding to a crop of marijuana at the bottom of a canyon, according to county records.

The first fatality on duty for the sheriff's office dates back to February 1903. Sheriff William W. Withers was shot and killed attempting to arrest a man wanted for stealing horses in southern Oregon. A posse caught up with the suspect in Creswell. The killer was convicted and later executed by hanging.

Over the years, another 4 deputies - Deputy Charles Rollin Wicks (May 1937); reserve Deputy David Hefner (February 1957); Deputy Carlton Edmund Smith (July 1965); and Deputy Roy Hugo Dirks (April 1975) - were shot and killed in the line of duty. County records indicate Dirks lost his life to a copycat killer imitating Charles Manson.

Reserve Deputy Robert Riley (August 1958) died in a car crash.

About National Peace Officers Memorial Day

The state memorial in Oregon takes place ahead of the national observance next week.

In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week. Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others. The Oregon ceremony is always held the week before the national events so that families and co-workers of the fallen can attend both ceremonies.

The engravers in Washington, D.C. have finished adding 360 names to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, bringing the total to 21,541 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.