Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 13, 1995 TAG: 9505150044
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV13 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Monday is Peace Officer Memorial Day. The day is set aside to honor those who have died in the line of duty.
"This day holds added meaning for our department this year, since two fellow officers, from adjoining counties, died in the line of duty recently," Commander Ed Hogston said in a news release.
Terry Griffith, a Christiansburg police officer, was killed in September by a suspected shoplifter he was trying to apprehend. The West Virginia man was later shot and killed by Montgomery County deputies.
Cliff Dicker, a Wythe County deputy sheriff, was killed in December as he served arrest papers on a 15 year-old boy. The teen-ager has been charged with capital murder.
A parade is planned for Thursday, a new activity approved by a departmental committee to further honor officers. The parade will include representatives of departments from Roanoke to Bristol, color guards, rescue squads, McGruff the Crime Dog, Vince and Larry the Crash Dummies and Smokey Bear.
The parade will begin at 7 p.m. at the Food Lion on Virginia 99. The parade route continues down Main Street to the Fire Department at Jefferson Street.
An annual luncheon for Pulaski County officers normally sponsored by the town department as part of the week's observance has been delayed until August, said Sandy Wilhoit, crime prevention coordinator for the Pulaski Police Department.
May 20, the department will sponsor a Law Enforcement Safety Expo, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart in Memorial Square.
Wilhoit said information booths and child fingerprinting will be available. The county's DARE vehicle, emergency services units, a town police car equipped with radar and other displays will also be part of the day.
Dicker and Griffith will be among 298 law enforcement officers who will be remembered at memorial observances today and Monday in Washington, D.C.
Wythe County Sheriff Wayne Pike and Christiansburg Police Chief Ron Lemons will attend, along with family members of the slain officers.
Of the 298 names being added to the D.C. memorial, 157 officers were killed during 1994.
Virginia, with six officers killed in 1994, had the seventh highest total in the nation.
by CNB