Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police
Police Week
It began in 1962 when President Kennedy declared May 15th to be Police Memorial Day. Police Week takes place in Washington D.C. for three days during the month of May, the 13th, 14th and 15th. These are days of tribute to the Police Officers within America have have sacrificed their lives for the sake of others. Each year the names of those officers who have fallen are placed on the wall of the Police Memorial. Police officers from around the world gather on these days along with the survivors of those killed on the line of duty to show their respect. We must always remember, it is not how these officers died that is important, but rather how they lived.
The Police Officer's Killed Are Not The Only Victim's
WASHINGTON D.C.'S BLUE MASS
St.Patrick's parish0
2017
Fallen Family
Every once and a while, in our 20 or 30 years as police officers we come across true leaders. Those of us who lead naturally without even knowing they are making such a difference in so many lives. I have seen them in the Marines and I have seen them in the world of Law Enforcement. Here are some of those type of leaders – true day in and day out street cops have asked me to place then here. They may not have held rank, but then again they may not have needed to. On occasion I will place one here on my own just by reading stories from fellow officers. If you know of a true street cop who cared more for their men then themselves please send me their photos… We all have our heroes, even in Law Enforcement.If you wish to add your feelings to one of the folks, please pass it along and I will post it.
D.C Metropolitan Police Officer Kevin Welsh age 34 – Seven Years Experience
Final Tour of Duty – August 4th, 1986
Officer Kevin J. Welsh a member of the Special Operations Division, (S.O.D.) was crossing over the 11th street bridge on Monday August 4th, 1986 on his way to the training academy. He saw a women jump into the Anacoste River, an apparent suicide attempt. Officer Welsh was seen going into the water, but would not be seen again.
Officer Welsh died while trying to save a strangers from drowning. Officials from President Reagan on down praised Officer Welsh for his Selfishness, Bravery, and Dedication.
Metropolitan Police Web Site
“One of the saddest stories I’ve ever had to cover in my 38 year career was Kevin’s funeral. Seeing his widow close to bringing his third child into the world and his two sons had battled hardened newsmen weeping.
Kline H. Meagle
Those of us who share in our faith will often wonder why God lets things like this happen. From the loss of an infant to a friend or family member, however we must believe, I believe, that good people that we lose in this life do not just go away and are rewarded in their next life.
Chuck Gallagher
Chuck Gallagher:
John Paprcka is an active member of Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police. These are his thoughts, they were placed on this site with his permission in February of 2012. These are one man’s reflections on friends and co-workers who have passed during his time behind the badge.(327) We all have stories, speaking/writing about them always helps, these are his thoughts and feelings. Please feel free to send me your thoughts, I am happy to add them. Not every loss has to be under fire.
John Paprcka:
I am not sure why I am posting this, but I think there are other MPD folks out there that may feel the same. I started writing this almost a year ago. This is inspired by Brian Gibson’s death. 15 years ago he was taken, I am glad I was not there, but it doesn’t take the pain away.
This is considered my breakfast club, but in the end, they are my friends and coworkers, however, they are deceased due to line of duty deaths, DUI accidents or suicide. Sadly 6 cops kill themselves to every cop killed in the line of duty. FACT!. Few will read all of the words and I wonder how many read all the words and can relate to any of the feelings.
ALAN GAY
I knew this guy for maybe one or two months. He was a midnight officer and was adjusting slowly to being a cop. It wasn’t that he stood out, he just didn’t seem to fit in. One day in roll call, the Sergeant announced that he had committed suicide with his private pistol. Almost all of us shrugged it off since no one knew him well and couldn’t understand why you would kill yourself.
CHRIS PETTUS
Chris and I were in the same academy class and sat next to each other due to alphabetic placement. We spent 4 months at the academy sharing studies and PT. Oddly, we were issued our weapons midway through the academy and the first weekend Chris had his gun he killed a person trying to rob him while off duty. Upon graduation, we were both assigned to the 4th district. I was assigned to midnights and he worked rotating days and evenings. Fourteen members of my class were assigned to the 4th district and we shared that common bond. The district had approximately 400 officers assigned to it and being rookies there, we always sought each other out to say hello and share stories. I wouldn’t consider Chris one of the working officers or one that I’d see in court frequently, I did consider him a friend from class. As time passed, I developed a strong bond and new friendships with the guys I worked with on a nightly basis. Then, just a few years (I think two) I heard Chris was killed at Haines Point while driving someone else’s motorcycle. Details of the accident were sketchy and I did not seek them out, nor did I attend his funeral. I do not recall why I didn’t, perhaps it conflicted with Court or possibly my vacation time.
Years later, I was assigned to the Second District and began working with an older Detective named James “Bo” Bovino. I believe it was 2007 or 2008 Bo and I were driving through Haines Point and I made a comment I had a classmate who died in a bike accident. Bo told me he was there and that the scene was tough, he also pointed out that Chris had passed right away.
JAMES M. MCGEE JR.
Like Chris, Jim and I were in the same class and we also sat near each other due to out alphabetical names. I believe my relationship with Jim was stronger, partly since he and I were workout partners during PT and we often joked behind the instructors back. Jim was a tough guy and although I was smaller, he truly pushed me to knock out those extra sit ups, yeah, he held my feet. When it came to running, well, I was better at that than he. Regardless, Jim was a lot of fun and we enjoyed our 4 months together.
Upon graduation, he went to either the 6th or 7th District and our only real encounters after that were in court. Court was a place you could tell who the working cops were, as if you were not in court, you were not making lock ups. The cops that went to my district and worked steady midnights like myself had the fortune to be trained by a lot of hard working 17-20 year vets. Knowing what I know now, it is hard to find guys still making a lot of lock ups in there last few years. In any case, this was 1990 and DC was the murder capital of the US with an average body count of 500 per year. That said, the majority of our arrests were drug related or gun cases. This generally put me a hard working cop in court three to five times a week. So, with that said, I frequently saw Jim.
I believe I first learned of Jim death through a pager. In any case I was told he was off duty and coming out of a carry out with food. His two small children ages around 6 and 8 were seated in his car. Jim came out of the store, observed a robbery of a cab and drew his weapon and held the thug at bay. Unbeknownst to Jim and marked car pulled into the block, saw Jim with a gun and drew down on him. Until this day I am unsure of what exactly happened, but Jim turned with his gun and was shot. Jim fell to the ground and died. Jim was black and the uniformed cop was white. This in and of itself started a fire bed for some time, but in the end it did not bring back Jim.
Approximately 4 months ago I was working in the 6th District and a bunch of us were telling old war stories when Jim’s came up. I was speaking with one of the first responding officers to that shooting. He told me he pulled up, ran up to the bad guy who had been shot and saw a badge. He then recognized the person as his friend, Jimmy McGee. Jim was still alive and he said he held him in his arms while he died. The most troubling thing is that he said he was holding Jim and within feet of him, were Jim’s children. They were inside of a car and looking out as there dad took his last breath. Although I was not there, there picture is fused into my mind forever. This shooting took place in the mid nineties, I believe 1996.
BRIAN GIBSON
GERALD RODERICK BURKE “ROD”
I hit the streets of DC in May of 1990. DC was in the midst of replacing over 2000 police officers due to all of the 20 year cops hired in and around 1970. I came out of the academy, received some good on the job training and were set loose. Although we were not fully trained and street wise, we got ourselves hooked up with a lot of senior officers who recognized the drive and “piss and vinegar” the young officers had. So there many times you would be certified on a Thursday night, then come to work on a Friday and all the senior officers would be on there day off. That said, there would now be a rookie fresh out of the academy and the only thing that made you senior was you had three or four months of street time and there was no one else to train him.
Well, this was Rod, he came to our midnight section and didn’t immediately fit in to the “street cop” mode. Rod graduated from Catholic University in degree that I believe was a psychology background. Rod hit the streets and was a good worker but interacted with the hucks in a manner most cops would not. We quickly began to call him Father Burke due to his style. I have tons of great stories of my arrests with Rod as well as the many nights we drank together as a group after work, breakfast over the years at the FOP and countless court cases together as well as his attendance at my wedding and when he shot himself in the hand with a seized pistol. Rod was a funny guy and never had any military bearing in attire.
Rod made Sergeant and was transferred to the Third District which is the Adams Morgan area. He had a great reputation among his officers and was a worker. One day during the evening tour around 5PM, I was traveling crosstown and through the Third District. I was on my own assignment and when I saw multiple cars flying with lights and sirens I ignored it. Why, well, it is an everyday occurence and we all have our own caseloads. That said, I never switched my radio over to the third district channel. Had I done that, well, I would have heard Rods last words live, rather than played back over a loud speakers at St. Patrick’s church in DC.
Rod was off duty, in his own car and headed to a family members funeral in Long Island. He was near 11th and Girard Street NW and saw a car that raised his suspicion. He radioed the tag in and it came back stolen. His followed the vehicle and broadcasted the destination to other units until there was silence. Units responding to the last reported location found Rod involved in a minor accident and unconscious behind the wheel. He was transported to MEDSTAR and pronounced dead. I found out shortly after and sergeant died and with a few phone calls learned it was Rod. I called some other friends made the sad notifications. Days later an autopsy would show his aorta ruptured. It could have happened to anyone. Within days, we had one funeral in DC, then the next day took fourteen marked cars up to Suffolk County , New York so that he could be buried at home. Burying friends was getting real old, no mater what the circumstances.
ELLIOT HERNANDEZ
Elliot was a skinny Spanish guy and although I only interacted with him at work as he was an officer and I responded to many of his scenes with advice or just to be on the scene. Like any scene or interaction with a group of cops, there is a lot of in your face humor and plain old joking around. Elliott was a nice guy and I wish, but then again am glad I didn’t or don’t know a lot about him. Elliot went on vacation and never came back from Florida. They found him floating in a raft with a single round to his head. It was ruled a homicide.
MIKE WIMER
H-m-m-m-m, this is kind of tough to remember or absolutely confirm. Like others, I recall Mike joining in the early nineties. He worked daywork and rotated into evenings, but was not a midnight officer. There was a difference back then and although it did not mean you were less of a cop, just not exposed to as much as soon as the midnight guys. Doug Mull, fellow academy classmate coined that phrase and it is true. 2 years on days/evenings is equal to six months on mids. But this is Mike’s moment and I am not trying to take away from it. Mike and I became workers/friends in the mid nineties, he worked in property and I was a detective. We did the daily coffee run to Bryan Brambeck’s crime scene search office and shot the sugar every day. Mike was just a regular guy and I think he was from Pennsylvania, perhaps Pittsburg. In any case, he left the department around 1999 and word got back to me that he became a salesman and ended up committing suicide.
What I can say is that Mike did make lock ups when he was on the street and not only witnessed but experienced a lot of the death on the streets as well as knowing many cops who were dying. So I wish I had more to say, but this is the first time I have sat down to write about my breakfast club since last year.
Ah yes, the breakfast club, yes, Mike too joined us periodically at the FOP for a breakfast before court. Very odd, my career in law enforcement is coming down to breakfast at the FOP. Regardless, Mike was a good person and hope his family is well.
HAROLD MOSELY
Harold was a Detective in my office and had been there prior to my promotion. He was a very soft spoken person. We worked together in the same office, but realistically, we didn’t make cases together. He was a great hands on person for fixing things and building stuff so there was always plenty of conversation about projects.
Harold came down with cancer and the department was trying to take care of him by giving him limited duty and allowing him time to go through his treatments at the Washington Hospital Center. Ironically, Harold was getting treated the same day the WHC shooter entered the hospital and shot a guy near Harold. Fortunately , Harold wasn’t involved as he was unarmed, but there is some bit of irony in that a shooting takes place w/i yards of an unarmed cop.
In any case, Harold ended up dying from cancer and I am sad that I never visited him while he was in Hospice. I have my own demons to deal with in that regard. Rest Harold, Rest.
DAN PEAK
Freaking Dan! I hear his name and want to come out fighting. Dan and I were classmates in the academy and the knucklehead beat me by two points in the marksmanship portion of the academy. Dan was Korean, he was our class president and was very adept at martial arts. He was so flexible when stretching and in incredible shape. He divorced his wife in Allentown with their two kids and worked in DC. He was a daywork guy and worked his way into what was then possibly considered the Korean Liaison unit. He later left MPD, worked his way back as a MArshall and was later killed in car accident.
Seems like a senseless death, but like so many other cops, driving drunk is seemingly OK. If you are not a cop, you will not understand that last sentence.
MARIA SOLA
Wow, talk about an innocent child that probably should not have been a cop but had such a warm life. I think she was impressionable and subsequently lost her job after about 6 years. She was always fun to be around and worked vice with a bunch of guys and made cases and was not a slap. Sadly, several years ago I heard she was bludgeoned to death in a domestic. She was a beautiful woman that did not deserved to die in the manner that she did. We miss you Sola and will not forget the wild times at the 911 club.
HANK DALEY
I was in the US Attorney’s Office and heard a gunman was in HQ. I ran to HQ, saw fellow officers coming out of the front doors of 300 and ran to aid them carrying an unknown person.
I grabbed the forward portion of the stretcher and looked down and was unaware of the condition of the person. Eagle landed between HQ and 500 and we loaded the person on board.
Surreal, I put him safely in the bird, the blades of the chopper were in slow motion, whooooop, whoooooop. So slow.
I reached and grabbed his wrist and felt a strong pulse and thought, GREAT. Then I saw a person atop of him, giving CPR.
Everything set in and I have walked with that image to this day.
Only later did I learn it was Hank Daly.. Never knew him, but now I do.
Rest
JIMMY McCOURT
Damn , tall skinny Jimmy. Sadly I was never really close with him, but we were workers and made cases. We may not have been friends, but we were there for each other and like all cops, depended on the other, like I got your back. Jim was there for me when I needed him and expressed concern about important issues that were personal. About 2-3 years ago I heard he had cancer, he was working out of I.A.D. and typical of a 3,700 man department, you hear about something and move on. I saw him a little over a year ago, visibly sickened by his cancer and he was so positive and working. Then one day I just heard he died, but worked to his last day on this Earth.
All of the above are friends and we all worked together and had breakfast at the F.O.P. on one day or another. Rest until we meet again!
THE PENTAGON
Well, I was there. Had a friend’s brother-in-law die there. And saw lots of tiny body part bags come from there. What does anyone want to know? It was just a sad place.
So many may ask why I have written the above? Well, I have written it not only for myself as I feel better getting this crap off my back, but it is for all of the above people who have died before me. They all served and have all died. Once again, I will use another friend’s word’s, We do not get paid for what we do, we get paid for what we may have to do. Good night friends.
SEND ME YOUR STORY, I WOULD BE HONORED TO PLACE IT -
D.C. loses an officer, questions surround cause of death
Mark Segraves, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – A District of Columbia police officer has died, raising questions about whether his death was related to a line of duty injury he sustained five years ago and whether his death could lead to murder charges.
Officer Oscar A. Pedrozo died Saturday in Silver Spring, Md. According to the Maryland State Medical Examiner’s Office, the autopsy is still pending. But officers who knew Pedrozo say he had undergone multiple medical procedures over the years related to the 2007 stabbing.
Kristopher Baumann, head of the D.C. Police Union, tells WTOP Pedrozo’s death “is potentially related to his injury.”
Pedrozo was off duty the Friday night in April of 2007 when he tried to break up a bar fight at Solo’s Restaurant on 14th Street NW. When officers arrived on the scene, Pedrozo was lying in front of the restaurant bleeding from a stab wound to his abdomen.
A security guard at the restaurant, along with a friend of Pedrozo, chased the suspect who was identified as Jose “Chito” Villarta. It is unclear from court records if Villarta was ever charged with the assault, but a police press release identifies Villarta as a “defendant” in the stabbing.
According to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, even if Villarta had been convicted of the assault, if Pedrozo’s death is ruled to be a line of duty death stemming from the stabbing, Villarta could be arrested and charged with murder.
According to Baumann, the fact that Pedrozo was off duty at the time of his stabbing does not mean it wasn’t in the line of duty.
“He was taking police action at the time.” Baumann says. “Remember D.C. Police officers are always considered to be on duty.”
The question of whether Pedrozo died in the line of duty is a big matter for Pedrozo’s widow and four children, as well. If it is ruled a line of duty death, Pedrozo’s widow and children are entitled to both local and federal benefits, including substantial monetary compensation as well as scholarships for the children’s education. Not to mention the honors associated with a line of duty death, including having his name added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in D.C.
Police Week "2015"
Each year I will replace this sections pictures with the current years pictures. Feel free to submit photos to me to place on the page.
Thank you F.O.P. Lodge 31 and the M.P.D. C. for all you do during Police Week. Thank you to Blue Lives Matter also..
The Memorial
