Ceremony honors officers who died in the line of duty
But face
Observe
Bring us
Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light
what's so
At the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright
stars
So fire
touched were so streaming
It's Comes bursting in G
that our flag was still there
Because that Bang bang
is
22
Post colors
Bishop Joe Steverson
Please bow your heads with me please for a word
of prayer and invocation
God of all comfort and of mercy
Today we gather with heavy hearts and solemn spirits
We gather to honor lives of service lives that wore
the badge with courage
Lives that answered calls many would run from
Lives that stood watch while others slept safely through the
night
Today this county pauses the community pauses families pause beneath
the unbearable weight of loss
For Lord there are moments when words feel too small
for grief this large yet even now you remain near
to the brokenhearted
We thank you for these officers whose lives became acts
of sacrifice for every mile patrolled for every emergency answer
for every child protected every family comforted every dangerous moment
they stepped into so someone else could walk away safely
And while tragedy may have marked their end of watch
let not tragedy define their legacy
Their legacy is service their legacy is courage
The legacy is duty
The legacy is love for something greater than themselves
So God wrap your arms around every spouse every parent
every child every friend every fellow officer carrying unimaginable sorrow
today
Strengthen those who must somehow keep moving while their hearts
are breaking
Comfort those whose silence hides deep pain and remind every
grieving soul that tears are not weakness they are love
with nowhere to go
So protect those who continue to serve place wisdom in
their minds peace in their spirit and safety around every
step they take
And in a world wounded by violence anger and division
teach us again how to see one another's humanity
Teach us that honor still matters sacrifice still matters life
still matters
So today we bow our heads in grief but we
also lift our eyes toward hope
Because we still believe that goodness is stronger than evil
love is stronger than hatred and light still shines in
darkness
It is in your holy name that we pray
Amen
You may be seated
At this time I would like to introduce Attorney General
Jeff Jackson
Jeff Jackson is a dad a husband soldier and the
fifty-first attorney general of North Carolina
As Attorney general he fights for the safety and well-being
of North Carolina families and serves as a voice for
all North Carolinians
He began his career in public service when he enlisted
after the attacks of September 11th and served in Afghanistan
He continues to serve as a Major in the Army
National Guard
He is currently in his 22nd year of military service
When Attorney General Jackson returned home from Afghanistan he went
to law school at UNC with the help from the
GI Bill
He became a criminal prosecutor in Gaston County where he
handled first-degree murder cases and sex offense cases
Attorney General Jackson served as a North Carolina state senator
representing Mecklenburg County for 8 years then became the first
person to represent North Carolina's 14th congressional district which includes
parts of Mecklenburg and Gaston counties
In both the North Carolina General Assembly and the United
States Congress he worked to help all North Carolinians get
a strong public education
He helped he helped all North Carolinians he helped all
North Carolinians get a strong education as well as find
jobs and a safe and to be safe in their
homes and neighborhoods
As Attorney General Jeff leads the North Carolina Department of
Justice overseeing efforts to protect taxpayers seniors consumers and military
families from scams and fraud
Please join me in welcoming Attorney General Jeff Jackson to
the podium
Thank you thank you Chief
Thank you for the introduction
Thank you for your leadership of this department
Most of you know this about Chief Boyce but his
work in Raleigh goes back to the beginning of his
career 25 years
Started as patrol in the Southeast District worked schools worked
gangs worked financial crimes worked his way up
He's such a part of this city and this department
That when he became chief the headline just said he's
one of us
Part of that experience means that he has been to
his share of memorials for fallen officers as we all
have
My experience with them has been Every time I learned
something about the person I didn't know
Sometimes it's about the way they died
Usually it's about the way they lived
The way they carried themselves
The way they carried others
This year We will be reading the names of law
enforcement officers
who have fallen in Wake County
And this year Wake County adds the name
Of Officer Roger Smith
He wore a Wake Med badge
And spent more than 30 years in law enforcement 16
with Nightale 14 with Wake Med 20 with Garner Fire
He was a charter member of Reds rescue extraction and
Delivery Specialist
In 2012 he was named Knightale's Crisis Intervention Team Officer
of the Year
His job was to de-escalate calls involving people in crisis
and nobody did it better
Again and again the phrase that people use to describe
him was gentle giant
He took care of his mother in her later years
He was a huge Carolina Hurricanes fan never missed a
game
If he could do it The Hurricanes hosted his family
at Lenovo Center the week after he died
And then there was a woman he knew
Named Sylvia Warren she worked the graveyard shift at a
at a Shell station
In Nightale Roger used to stop by
Check in on her talk to her
Make her feel safe
They knew each other a little bit
One day Sylvia happened to be standing behind him in
the checkout aisle at Food Lion just while he was
buying his groceries
The woman in front of him
Didn't have enough money to pay for her groceries and
she started to put food back in her car
And Roger said no no no
I got this And then she watched him Buy her
groceries
She told that story to a reporter last November
It happened 20 years ago
She remembered it like it was yesterday
And this is what we learned
From memorials like this that are fallen
weren't just great officers they were great neighbors
They were the ones who held things together
No matter where they were
When Roger died Wake Med Lost an officer
But all of you
Treated it like your loss too
Raleigh PD Wake County Sheriff State Capitol Police Highway Patrol
Knightdale Garner all of you
Treated him like family
Roger's family saw that
I saw It meant a lot That's something law enforcement
does well
The rest of us should learn from when one of
you is lost
The patch does not matter nearly as much as the
promise
You all share a commitment to mission that puts you
in danger and you recognize that in each other
No matter what the uniform is
Master Officer Max Gilli
January 21st
What started as a burglary call became a domestic violence
call
Max responded
He helped carry a victim to a screened porch to
try and get him to safety
Then Max was shot
By God's grace
He survived But Max and everyone in this room knows
what that call could have become
The distance between a recovery story and a memorial
Can be millimeters
It can be a moment Every officer in this room
Has responded to exactly that kind of call
For Mac Tragedy was narrowly avoided but earlier this year
We had a stretch of tragedy
that we will never forget
Master Trooper Stein Davis Jr
February 22nd
Master Trooper Steven Perry March 1st Deputy Caleb Mitchell March
7th 3 officers three families 3 weeks
Different people Different counties different calls but once again
The memorials had something that tied them all together
At each of them you hear about the call you
hear about the crash you hear about the moment of
danger but then you hear from the people who knew
them
Then you hear about the father the brother the grandfather
the volunteer firefighter the football teammate the neighbor who paid
for a stranger's groceries
That is when you understand
The full measure Of what was taken What was lost
Today is a particular honor for me
Because I'm not here just as Attorney general I'm here
as a new resident of Wake County
That means I don't just count on you as AG
I count on you as a dad
I've got 3 kids
No matter where they go in this county
They're safer because of you
I don't take that for granted
I appreciate it
We ask I ask a great deal of you
We gather today to recognize
Those who have made the ultimate sacrifice
But not just to mourn
To remember Not just to remember To honor And not
just to honor But to carry forward The courage they
showed the lives they protected the example they set
That doesn't disappear
It echoes It shapes the way others serve
And to the families who are here with us thank
you for your presence for your strength
For the sacrifice that you carry with you
And to every officer here
I want you to hear this clearly
And I want you to hear directly from me
We have your back
Because you have ours
You always have May God bless The families of the
fallen
And may he continue to bless the people and the
protectors
Of our great state
Thank you
At this time we will have a musical selection of
Amazing Grace by Rebecca Ledford accompanied by David Alman
Twice
At this time I ask all law enforcement officers to
stand with me as the names of the fallen officers
are read by Chief Rosser of the Mooresville Police Department
Guests and family you may remain seated at this time
Tom G
Crabtree Raleigh police end of watch September 1st 1922
Guy C
Massey Senior
Wake County Sheriff's Office into watch September 10th 1933
John L
Taylor Wake Forest police into watch May 30th 1944
George C
Mitchell Wake Forest police in to watch April 26 1947
Robert E
Sparks Raleigh police end of watch March 8 1968
James G
Lee Raleigh police end of watch December 5th 1968
James W
Allen Raleigh police end of watch December 5th 1968
Robert R
East North Carolina Highway Patrol end of watch December 21
1972
Delma D
Adams Raleigh police in to watch February 3 1980
Cecil E
Inlow Wake Forest Police end of watch February 26 1984
WE Bayliss III North Carolina Highway Patrol end of watch
February 5th 1988
Denise Holden Raleigh police end of watch August 4th 1995
William E
Godwin Mooresville police in to watch May 22 1997
Paul A
Hale Raleigh police end of watch July 11th 1997
Charles R
Paul III Raleigh police end of watch September 10th 2002
William F
James the Second Wake County Sheriff's Office end of Watt
September 5 2003
Phil Owens Wake County Sheriff's Office into watch October 2
2003
Mark R
Tucker Wake County Sheriff's Office into watch February 12 2004
Andrew Stocks North Carolina Highway Patrol end of watch September
9th 2008
Stefan M
Wall Wake County Sheriff's Office end of watch April 22
2018
Ryan A
Hayworth Knightdale police end of watch October 17th 2021
Ned P
Byrd Wake County Sheriff's Office in watch August 11th 2022
Gabriel J
Torres Raleigh police end of watch October 13 2022
Canine Santos Wake County Sheriff's Office end of watch May
26 2023
Roger L
Smith Wake Med Campus police end of watch November 8th
2025
Ready hey
Eddie
Hey
Ready
Hey
You may be seated
At this time we welcome back Rebecca Ledford and David
Alman with the singing of Hold On to Me
When the best of me
Not
to me
When
to me
When I don't feel like
When I start to break
way
expect
I could rest here in your
Cause I
me
to me
Today as we gather with heavy hearts and deep gratitude
to the honor the lives and service of the brave
men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the
line of duty
Their courage was not measured only in moments of danger
But in a quiet everyday commitment to protect complete strangers
To stand between chaos and safety
And to serve something greater than themselves
Behind every badge was a person
A son a daughter a husband a wife a parent
a friend a partner
Their absence is felt not only within our departments but
around the dinner table
At family gatherings and in the hearts of all who
loved him
We remember them not for how they died but for
how they lived
With honor integrity
Compassion And dedication
To the families here today
No words can truly ease your loss
But please know we stand with you
Today and always
Your loved ones sacrifice will not be forgotten
And their legacy continues in every officer who answers the
call to serve
To our officers and first responders may we continue to
carry their memories with pride and purpose
Let their example remind us why we wear this badge
and why this profession matters
In difficult times we lean on one another
And we move forward together
As we leave the ceremony let us not all let's
not allow their names to fade in silence
Let us speak them remember them
And honor them through our actions our service and our
commitment to each other and to our great communities
May we never forget the fallen
May we continue to support the living
And may God watch over all who serve
Before we stand I want to take a moment to
thank Hayes Barton and members of this church that helped
make this ceremony possible
At this time would you please stand for the benediction
by the Raleigh Police Department chaplain Bishop Joe Stevenson followed
by the retiring other colors
After the families of the fallen are escorted out please
join us in fellowship in the fellowship hall where refreshments
will be served
Let us pray And now may the God who sees
every tear and remembers every sacrifice keep us in His
care
And as we leave this sacred gathering today may we
not leave unchanged
May we carry with us the memory of brave men
women brave men and women whose service became a shield
for our community
May we remember that behind every badge was a heartbeat
behind every uniform was a family behind every act of
courage was a personal sacrifice few will fully understand
To the families who grieve may God give you strength
for every tomorrow you did not ask for
May love surround you when loneliness settles in and may
the legacy of those you love continue to live through
every life they touch
To have your officer and first responder make coverage stand
beside you wisdom guide you and protection cover you
To this community may this moment call us not toward
division but toward unity not toward hatred but toward healing
not toward bitterness but toward a deeper respect for the
value of human life and may we honor these fallen
officers not only with memorials and moments of silence but
with lives committed to building a safer stronger more compassionate
communities
May peace rest upon every troubled heart
May grace sustain every weary soul and may hope rise
again even in the shadow of grief
And when history remembers this day May it be said
that we did more than mourn together we stood together
Go in peace go in strength and may the grace
of Almighty God rest upon us all
Amen
But
Retreat
Cos
Very good step
Right
Please