Officiers honor fallen colleagues — Seven state officers killed in line of duty

Heather Young/Atascadero News • Law enforcement officers from throughout San Luis Obispo County gather at Atascadero Faces of Freedom Veterans’ Memorial Wednesday.

To honor California law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty, the Criminal Justice Administrators’ Association of San Luis Obispo County held its yearly Peace Officers’ Memorial Service. For the third time in the last four years it was held in Atascadero at the Faces of Freedom Veterans’ Memorial.

“Each day, some 800,000 law enforcement officers across our nation put their lives on the line for our safety and protection,” association chairman and Arroyo Grande Police Department Chief Steve Annibali said. “Their job is difficult and dangerous. On average, an officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in America every 53 minutes. We owe all these brave men and women a great debt of gratitude.”

SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson read the names of California officers who were killed in the line of duty over the last year. Those officers were Hawthorne Police Department Officer Andrew Garton, Alhambra Police Department Officer Ryan Stringer, Buena Park Police Department Officer Daniel Ackerman, San Diego Police Department Officer Jeremy Henwood, Vallejo Police Department Officer James Capoot, Signal Hill Police Department Officer Tony Giniwicz and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Robert Paris.

Parkinson also read the names of four county law enforcement employees who died within the last year, but not in the line of duty.

The memorial service was attended mostly by law enforcement employees, but also include many community members, and city, county and state government officials and representatives.