THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 3, 1996 TAG: 9608030313
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 48 lines
In a brief but emotional ceremony Friday, the Police Department's training range was dedicated to the memory of Sgt. Forrest P. Capps, a veteran lawman who designed and built most of the facility in rural Creeds.
Capps was 49 when he was hit and killed by a car May 8 on a winding road in the city's southern expanse of farmland, where the officer had spent most of his life. He was off-duty and helping a friend move furniture when he stopped his pickup truck to check the load. A Ford Festiva hit the 26-year veteran and killed him.
He was among the city's most experienced and respected officers.
``I want us to be positive in thinking about the spirit of Forrest Capps,'' said Susan Allen, wife of Gov. George F. Allen. She said the Allen family knew Capps and frequently visited him at the Mounted Patrol stables, the unit Capps was supervising when he died. She struggled to hold back tears as she spoke about the family friend at the dedication.
``His spirit will be honored by the many men and women who will come through here,'' she said.
The complex of classrooms, firing ranges and training grounds is now known as the Forrest P. Capps Law Enforcement Training Center.
``I don't know of anyone who had more to do in building this range,'' Police Chief Charles R. Wall said. ``Forrest was the glue and the muscle that made this happen.''
Capps joined the Police Department as a patrol officer on New Year's Day, 1970. He later became a detective and a training officer. His final assignment was as supervisor of the Mounted Patrol. Capps learned to ride, and the assignment became his biggest passion, friends said.
Capps' widow, Mary ``Kitty'' Capps, and other family members attended the ceremony inside a classroom that the officer designed and helped to build. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Mary ``Kitty'' Capps, widow of Sgt. Forrest P. Capps, looks on
during ceremonies Friday during which the Virginia Beach Police
Department's training range was dedicated to the memory of her
husband, who was struck by a car and killed May 8. The Capps'
daughter, Page Albert, and her husband, Eric, are to her right.
Photo
Sgt. Forrest P. Capps
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT ACCIDENT TRAFFIC
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