The Wadesboro Police Department honored nine fallen officers during a memorial May 18.
Chief Thedis Spencer said that the commitment to be an officer is a serious one.
“It’s not a job, it’s a calling,” he said, adding that he always asks potential new officers if they and their families understand the sacrifice they may be required to make.
“The first thing I ask them is, if they’re married, I ask them how their spouse feels about it,” Spencer said. “If they have a girlfriend, I ask them how their girlfriend feels about it — if they have kids. Because it’s not easy being a police officer. We appreciate our loved ones and our families.”
Spencer acknowledged officers in service and their families for their daily sacrifice, and honored those who died doing their job.
Sheriff Landric Reid said the officers gave their lives for the community as a whole, not just for individuals involved in the fatal situations.
“If you don’t fall for something, you’ll fall for anything,” Reid said. “These officers stood for something. They stood for these little children sitting right here. That’s what this is about — making sure they’re safe, making sure they grow up safe. There’s also a saying, ‘All give some, some give all.’ All give some, some give all. That’s another reason we’re here today — these officers we’re talking about gave the ultimate sacrifice. They gave their life for their brothers, their sisters; they gave their life for people they didn’t even know. They laid it down for their community.”
Reid encouraged the community to show its support and appreciation for law enforcement officers.
Mark Hammonds, clerk of superior court, recalled a friend of his who, in 1976, offered him advice that Hammonds passed on: “The badge you wear will not stop a bullet.”
Hammonds said the same friend told him he would feel invincible after finishing school, and that the “crisp uniform” wouldn’t protect him.
Only God can stop the bullet, Hammonds said.
In 1984, Hammonds said he received a call informing him that Hammond’s former patrol school roommate, a trooper with the North Carolina Highway Patrol, had been shot. Hammonds was ordered to not participate in the hunt for the suspect.
“First, I was astonished. Secondly, I was hurt. Third — and what could’ve been the most detrimental for me and my family — I was mad,” Hammonds said. “What business did I have on a manhunt? None whatsoever. I could’ve caused a colleague to have been killed. I could’ve gotten myself killed.”
His friend survived the shooting and is now retired.
Once more, Hammonds reminded the officers that a badge doesn’t stop a bullet and to trust in God.
Anson County Commissioner Vancine Sturdivant thanked the assembled officers for their service and acknowledged city and county leaders, including Wadesboro Mayor Bill Thacker and Anson County Manager Megan Garner, for their support of law enforcement officers.
The Rev. Michael McLeod offered a prayer for law enforcement officers and the Rev. Donnie Helms gave the benediction.
Family members of some of the fallen officers blew out candles in honor of the officers at the end of the ceremony.
FALLEN OFFICERS
A slideshow in memory of the officers played photos of every fallen officer but James Marion Sings, as there was no photo available of him. Spencer spoke about each of the officers’ sacrifice.
McFarlan Officer James Marion Sings, 47, died July 20, 1910, when he was shot by a suspect who tried to stop the arrest of another suspect. Sings arrested the first suspect at a railroad work camp when the second suspect arrived and shot Sings three times when the officer refused to release the prisoner.
Spencer said that Sings died hours after he was shot, and that newspapers from that time do not reveal whether the shooting suspect was ever caught.
Peachland Constable Mattie George Faulkner was fatally shot Jan. 16, 1926, while chasing suspected bootleggers following the raid of a liquor still. Two suspects went to prison, Spencer said.
North Carolina Highway Patrolman George I. Thompson died July 2, 1929 — just one day after graduating from the first North Carolina Highway Patrol School. Thompson was driving through Anson County on his motorcycle when a 13-year-old Albemarle boy ran a stop sign and hit Thompson’s motorcycle with his truck. Thompson’s death marked the first North Carolina highway patrolman to die in the line of duty.
Deputy Sheriff Selby Harney Sr. died Aug. 31, 1973, while responding to a call about a shooter.
Harney was near the South Carolina line off of N.C. Highway 109 South when he died of an apparent heart attack. He and other deputies had just talked a mental subject who was shooting at motorists into surrendering.
Chief Deputy Gilbert Dean died Feb. 12, 1977 when he also suffered an apparent heart attack. Dean was one of the officers involved in a struggle to arrest a suspect accused of being “drunk and disorderly” when he collapsed after the suspect was arrested, Spencer said.
Deputy William Kress Horne, 24, was fatally shot Dec. 23, 1984, when he was waiting for backup after responding to a call about a suspect shooting into a neighborhood.
“Deputy Horne, along with another deputy, talked to the individual through his front door but he refused to come outside,” Spencer said. “While deputies were waiting for other assistance and standing behind their patrol vehicles as shields, the suspect fired one shot from inside the residence with a shotgun, striking Deputy Horne.”
Horne died the next day at a hospital. The suspect was later caught, convicted and died in prison.
Chief Deputy Jesse Lee Pratt, 52, died Sept. 14, 2001, when he was involved in a car accident in Morven, according to the website for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Spencer said that Pratt was on his way to work when his patrol car was hit by another vehicle.
Trooper Josh W. Oliver died March 24, 2004, from injuries he sustained 18 months earlier when his patrol car hit a bridge abutment in Anson County. Oliver was responding to a call during a rain storm.
Deputy William Jonathan Crawley, 29, was fatally shot Aug. 31, 1998, when escorting a woman to her home. Crawley was a deputy with the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina.
The woman intended to take her clothing from the house while Crawley served a court order on the woman’s husband to make him move out, but the suspect fatally shot both the woman and Crawley.
“The suspect fled to another residence,” Spencer said. “During a six-hour standoff, a SWAT team attempted to take him into custody when his attention was diverted, but he instead reached for a weapon and was shot numerous times.”
Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.