THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 19, 1995 TAG: 9505190505
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Attorney General James S. Gilmore III helped memorialize fallen police officers throughout the nation Thursday, saying that their sacrifices were ``not in vain. . . .because that sacrifice came in the long and honorable battle against crime.''
Three of the most recent deaths mentioned by Gilmore at City Hall were in Hampton Roads -- those of Larry D. Bland and Steven R. Rutherford of Newport News and Kenneth Wallace of Hampton. The three officers were shot and killed while patrolling last year on the Peninsula.
Gilmore, speaking at the city's annual memorial service for officers who have died in the line of duty, also praised Officer Terry L. Grffith of Christiansburg and Deputy Clifford Dicker of Wythe County for giving their lives during 1994. And the attorney general included the federal agents killed in Oklahoma.
``Sometimes when the violence strikes, the victim is one of your fellow officers,'' Gilmore said. ``We saw it in Oklahoma City, with the federal agents who went to their ninth-floor offices that Wednesday in April and who never went home.''
Gilmore called police work ``the fight against the dark side of our society.'' He said that while most Virginians feel a moral obligation to obey laws and ``respect the rights and property of others. . . .there are those among us with eyes that see targets instead of people, with minds that are filled with hate, with hands that hurt rather than help.
``I'm sure that as law enforcement officers. . . ..you sometimes must think that your work escapes notice,'' the attorney general said. ``But I can assure you that your dedication, your devotion to duty, your contributions and your service will never to unnoticed by those of us who have had the honor and privilege of working with you. . . .'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Portsmouth police officer Joe Childress with his daughter,
Stephanie, 3, congratulates Sgt. Steve Jackson after they both were
awarded the medal of honor during a ceremony Thursday.
by CNB