REMEMBERING 20 FALLEN OFFICERS

Commemoration ceremony Wednesday part of National Police Week

In the 172 years since the incorporation of Solano County, 20 peace officers have died in the line of duty.

All were remembered Wednesday at the annual Peace Officers' Memorial held outside the Solano Sheriff's Office.

The commemoration was part of National Police Week, observed the week of May 15 since 1962 to honor the service of law enforcement officers who died doing their jobs. In Solano, the ceremony has been an annual occurrence for the last 30 years near the Peace Officers' Wall of Honor, just outside the Sheriff's

Office. The memorial features the names of all Solano officers

who have died in the line of duty as of 2022.

Following an Honor Guard formation and flag raising by the Sheriff's Office and California Highway Patrol, a performance of the national anthem by soloist Isa Chu and welcoming remarks and Pledge of Allegiance by Ron Turner, president of the 100 Club of Solano and Yolo Counties, Chaplain Alvin Jackson delivered the invocation, which described the difficulties that officers and their families face in their professions.

“No law enforcement officer leaves home without the fear of not returning at the end of the watch,” he said. “It is a fear that is lived daily, and unfortunately

the worst does sometimes come to pass and lives are left shattered.”

Steve Mortensen, a retired Benicia police officer, read the names of the 20 fallen officers, followed by the procedural release of doves and a moment of silence.

In her keynote speech, Fairfield Police Chief Deanna Cantrell said policing was a profession that comes with dangers but also exemplifies bravery.

“You truly are courageous and I'm grateful to serve our community with you,” she said to the many officers present. “Bravery and vigilance are constant traits of those that wear the badge, whether it's stopping criminal acts of violence, walking the halls that hold those that have been imprisoned, keeping our roadways safe to travel upon. It's a courage that is so constant and commonplace that many people take it for granted. Not today, and not by those that understand the true reality of dawning a badge.”

Cantrell read a poem by

Tecumseh, Shawnee chief who fought against American expansion onto Indigenous lands. The closing read, “When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”

Cantrell further encouraged attendees to “pause this week to remember those that have gone before you and continue to pray for our families, for our communities and for our nation.”

The ceremony closed with a three-volley salute by the Sheriff's Office Honor Guard, performance of taps by Holy Spirit School music teacher Antonio Escobedo and a CHP helicopter flyover.

PHOTOS BY JOEL ROSENBAUM — THE REPORTER Jamie Capoot-Trujillo holds her 2-year-old daughter, Harper James, as she places a flower above the memorial star that bears the name of her grandfather, James L Capoot, at the wall of fallen peace officers Wednesday at the conclusion of the 2022Peace Officers' Memorial Service in Fairfield. Jamie's son, Wally, 5, stands by her side. James Capoot, a police officer with the Vallejo Police Department, was killed in the line of duty Nov. 17, 2011.

A single red rose rests atop the memorial star for Jeffrey L. Azuar, a Vallejo police officer killed in the line of duty in April 2000.

JOEL ROSENBAUM — THE REPORTER Law Enforcement personnel from around Solano County line Union Street Wednesday in Fairfield to pay their respects to the 20fallen peace officers who were killed in the line of duty in Solano County during the 2022Peace Officer's Memorial.