NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Newport News Police Department is now postponing their annual memorial service to honor fallen officers, due to COVID-19.
Each year during National Police Week, NNPD holds a memorial serivce to honor the Newport News officers who died in the line of duty.
The department has now postponed the memorial until later in the year, due to the pandemic.
"We have put together a tribute video to honor our fallen officers that will be posted on social media on May 15, 2020 but are committed to honoring them with a proper ceremony, this year, when it is safe to do so,” said Chief Steve Drew.
Chief Drew said this year has been particularly difficult for the Department as they continue to mourn the loss of Officer Katie Thyne, the department’s twelfth line of duty death.
“We hear of officers making this sacrifice far too often — but when it happens in your own department, it most certainly makes a heavy and heartfelt impact,” added Drew.
The following Newport News Police officers lost their lives in the line of duty:
- Robert H. Smith, February 12, 1912 — June 11, 1919
- Robert Hayes DeKorte, 1918 — September 23, 1921
- Weldon O. Bass, May 7, 1926 — September 25, 1933
- Claude Thomas Parks, May 10, 1943 — September 10, 1943
- Charles Nelson Doughty, November 8, 1940 — August 11, 1946
- Courtney W. Cook, April 19, 1960 — June 24, 1961
- Clarence Eugene Small, May 17, 1946 — June 24, 1961
- Wallace Earl Nesbitt, Sr., November 28, 1967 — January 8, 1970
- Dennis Jerome Roberts, July 20, 1970 — March 20, 1981
- Steven Robert Rutherford, September 19, 1988 — January 12, 1994
- Larry Douglas Bland, January 1, 1991 — May 13, 1994
- Katherine “Katie” M. Thyne, November 13, 2018 — January 23, 2020
