OAKLAND — More than 250 relatives, friends and officers past and present paid their respects Wednesday at a memorial service honoring 55 Oakland police officers killed in the line of duty since 1867, who were remembered as being heroes who had the “courage to be a police officer.”
The ceremony at police headquarters, where those attending ranged from babies in strollers to people in their 90s, featured a reading of the names of two officers who died since December, now added as engravements on a lobby wall that highlights the names of 53 others.
They were Officer Tuan Le, 36, fatally shot Dec. 29, 2023 while responding to a burglary call, and Officer Jordan Wingate, 28, who died April 20, 2024 from injuries suffered in a police vehicle crash in August of 2018. The two officers had the largest contingents of family and friends present.
Acting Chief of Police Tony Jones called all of the officers killed “fallen heroes,” adding: “There are things in life that cannot be taught or trained into a person. One of those elements is courage. It takes courage to be a police officer. It takes even more courage to be a police officer here in Oakland. The officers we are here to remember today were born with that courage.”
Jones said that police officers know what the dangers are in their job and that many in Oakland have had close calls with death.
Acting Chief of Police Tony Jones speaks at the Oakland Police Department during an annual memorial for police officers killed in the line of duty in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
“Those who don’t make it are the real heroes,” he said. “The heroes who risk it all so that the people who cannot protect themselves can be safe. Those are the heroes that we are here to honor today.”
The ceremony was also attended by incoming Oakland police chief Floyd Mitchell, who is expected to be sworn in next week, and Mayor Sheng Thao.
Deputy Chief of Police James Beere said the 55 who died were people with “backgrounds and stories as diverse as Oakland itself and who are forever bound by an unbreakable bond of valor.”
He said the law enforcement profession “is an unfair profession” with extremely high expectations, constant criticism where praise does not often happen.
“That is why their ultimate sacrifice means so much,” he said of the 55. They served and sacrificed for a purpose far greater than themselves. I can think of no truer definition of a hero.”
” ]Beere told the audience “there is no speech or ceremony that can ease your pain, no tribute or salute. But today we join together to honor their courage and to fill your hearts with our gratitude for the lives they led and know they will live on, not just in your hearts, but in the hearts of every Oakland police officer who continues to serve for generations to come.”
As in past ceremonies, the name of each of the officers was read out loud and relatives or a friend present pinned a rose in their honor to a floral display of a police badge.
