Remarkable courage
Slain officer was ‘epitome of protect and serve’
The seal of the Memphis Police Department bears the words knowledge, integrity and courage.
Officer Verdell Smith epitomized these traits, said Mike Williams, president of the Memphis Police Association.
Friday, law enforcement, elected officials and citizens filled Hope Presbyterian Church in Cordova to give Smith a final salute.
Smith, 46, was killed on June 4 when he was hit by a suspect fleeing police. He dashed into the street to protect citizens from the suspect driving a car the wrong way down a one-way street.
Smith sacrificed his life to save the lives of others. On and off duty, he personified the shield that he wore on his uniform for 18 years.
As Smith’s children, Chelsea and Verdell Jr., took to the stage to talk about their father, they delivered a moving tribute that had the audience in tears at the 5,000-seat sanctuary.
“It is crazy because every time my life got hectic or I needed somebody to talk to about boys, Mom getting on my nerves, V.J. (her brother) ain’t acting right, school’s hard, I would call my daddy,” Chelsea Smith said. “Now life’s hectic cause he’s not here. It’s hard, but I want y’all to know that God’s timing is perfect. My daddy did everything he was supposed to do before God took him away.”
She added, “I need to ask God for understanding and know that he took my daddy away so that this city can come
MPD OFFICER VERDELL SMITH FUNERAL “It wasn’t how he died that made him a hero. It was how he lived.” Interim Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings
together for love.”
Verdell Smith Jr., who is the spitting image of his father, including his smile, thanked the citizens and the police department for their outpouring of love and support.
“My dad was asked not what the city could do for him, but what he could do for the city,” Verdell Smith Jr. said.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, one of the several elected officials who attended the service, lamented over Smith’s death.
“It’s extraordinarily sad. These men and women are here to protect and serve us, and unfortunately that puts them in situations where these things happen,” said Strickland said. “Officer Smith literally died saving people’s lives.”
Smith, a Memphis native and Whitehaven High School graduate, is the fourth officer in Memphis to die in the line of duty in the last five years.
His death comes at a difficult time for a police department that has seen officers retire or leave in recent months. On the evening of his death, Smith volunteered to work an overtime shift to earn extra money for a family vacation.
Interim Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings said about Smith, “You matter, blue lives matter, all lives matter.”
Like others, Rallings praised Smith’s bravery in defending the public against a suspect fleeing police.
Justin Welch, 21, has been charged in Smith’s death.
“He (Smith) risked his personal safety to make sure others were protected,” Rallings said. “It wasn’t how he died that made him a hero. It was how he lived.”
At the burial service at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery on Poplar, more than 100 solemn officers lined the road to salute Smith’s casket as it was pulled along by a horse and carriage.
Strickland handed out bottled water to family members fanning themselves; medical personnel at the burial site tended to a few visitors who felt ill standing in the sun on the 90-degree afternoon.
Twelve chairs lined with blue faux fur were placed in front of Smith’s casket for family and friends to see the officer off to his final resting place.
A crowd of more than 50 gathered behind them.
Rallings and about 100 of his officers stood tall and looked on in silence as two members of the Navy removed the American flag from Smith’s casket, folded it and handed it to his family. Smith served in the Navy before joining MPD in 1998.
Rallings also presented the family with a neatly folded American flag.
Afterward, Smith’s children released white doves into the air. Throughout the service the family remained poised.
Smith lived a life of service and giving.
He mentored young people and started a program called “Face the Future.”
“He was the epitome of protect and serve,” said the Police Association’s Williams.