Tomorrow, May 3, Eugene Police will send representatives to the Oregon Law Enforcement Officer Memorial at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem (4190 Aumsville Hwy. SE, Salem, Oregon), at 1:00 p.m. Since Eugene hired the City’s first law enforcement officer in 1862, three officers have been killed in the line of duty.
Officer Chris Kilcullen, 43, was shot and killed during a traffic stop on I-105 and 52nd Street in Springfield, Oregon on Friday, April 22, 2011. He left behind a wife and two children. The suspect was apprehended.
Officer Jesse Jennings Jackson, 35, was killed in a car crash during pursuit of a reckless driver on Saturday, June 2, 1934. The fleeing vehicle forced its way in front of the patrol car, resulting in the patrol car landing upside down in a mill race pond He left behind a wife and daughter. The suspects were apprehended.
Officer Oscar Duly, 35, was shot by a bootlegger hiding in ambush while assisting Lane County Sheriff’s Office during a liquor raid in Marcola on August 28, 1930. He left behind a wife. There was a second shootout that resulted in the death of Deputy Game Warden Joe Saunders of Hillsboro and the wounding of Deputy Game Warden Rodney Roach and Deputy Sheriff Lee Bown. The suspect was subsequently located and killed during another shootout near Westfir.
NATIONAL POLICE WEEK
National Police Week is May 15 through May 21, a time when our country memorializes law enforcement personnel who died in the line of duty. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week.
Currently, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington, DC to participate in a number of planned events which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. There is a contingent from Eugene and Lane County honoring Officer Chris Kilcullen by participating in the Police Unity Tour and events of Police Week. The Police Unity Tour is a bicycle ride beginning in Somerset, New Jersey, and ending at the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial in Washington DC to raise awareness about those officers who have died in the line of duty and money for the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial.
Eugene Police Department Officers Chris Kilcullen, Oscar Duley and Jesse Jennings Jackson.