RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia State Police Troopers and their families will gather on Thursday to honor all of the public safety professionals who have died in the line of duty in the Commonwealth of Virginia as part of the 2016 Virginia State Police Law Enforcement Memorial Service.
The Department’s Police Officers’ Memorial Service is held each year during National Law Enforcement Week.
Special recognition will be given to Trooper Nathan-Michael W. Smith, 27, who died in the line of duty on September 21, 2015 in Prince George County.
Trooper Smith died after his vehicle crashed on an Interstate 295 exit ramp in Prince George County. Trooper Smith was responding to an emergency request for assistance at a fatal crash scene in Dinwiddie County.
During the ceremony, Trooper Smith’s portrait will be unveiled and dedicated before it is hung in the Colonel C.W. Woodson Jr. Memorial Gallery in the Virginia State Police Academy.
The gallery already holds the portraits of the state police’s other 60 courageous men and women who died in the line-of-duty while serving the citizens of the Commonwealth.
Trooper Dermyer was shot and killed while participating in a tactical interdiction training operation at a bus station in Richmond. Trooper Dermyer had approached a male subject and verbally engaged with the individual when the male subject began shooting at the trooper.
The service will recognize all of the Department’s law enforcement professionals who have died in the line of duty, to include a special tribute to the following 13 troopers in which 2016 marks a significant passage of time:
- 5 Years: Trooper Adam M. Bowen (2011-King George Co.)*
- 10 Years: Sr. Trooper Robert A. Hill, Sr. (2006 – Southampton Co.)
- 10 Years: Trooper Kevin C. Manion (2006 – Clarke Co.)
- 20 Years: Trooper Gregory P. Fleenor (1996 – Hanover Co.)
- 30 Years: Trooper Ricky M. McCoy (1986 – Salem)
- 35 Years: Trooper Robin L. Farmer (1981- Caroline Co.)
- 40 Years: Trooper Bernard W. Wright (1976 – Halifax Co.)
- 40 Years: Trooper Garland W. Fisher, Jr. (1976 – Durham, N.C.)
- 60 Years: Trooper Henry M. Brooks, Jr. (1956 – Pittsylvania Co.)
- 65 Years: Trooper Robert Wright Smith (1951 – Pamplin)
- 65 Years: Investigator Wallace M. Simpson (1951 – Petersburg)
- 70 Years: Trooper William H. Andrews (1946 – Nottoway Co.)
- 75 Years: Trooper Urshell T. Mayo (1941 – Hampton)
*Year & Location of Death
Each tribute includes a single bell toll and an Honor Guard salute.
