Missouri – National Police Week in Missouri was May 11 through May 17, 2024. This week was set aside to honor and remember law enforcement officers who gave their lives in the line of duty while serving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officer Memorial Day, and National Police Week is held annually to commemorate fallen officers.
On May 13, there was an event held in Washington D.C. to add names to the National Law Enforcement Memorial. There were more than 280 officer names added who were killed in the line of duty in 2024. 5 of those names were officers from Missouri including, Charles Lee Burns, Camden County Sheriff Department Deputy; Mason Evans Griffith, Herman Police Department Officer; James Matthew Muhlbauer, Kansas City Police Department Officer; Keely Bernard Rolando, Missouri Department of Corrections Officer; Jason Scott Pulliam, Missouri Department of Corrections Officer.
The Howell County Sheriff’s Office released a list of Deputies and Correction Officers whom they wish to remember and honor for Peace Officer Memorial Day.
- On March 1, 1869, 37-year-old Sheriff Lee Hugh Cordell was shot and killed while he and two deputies attempted to arrest a man who had stolen a horse from Arkansas.
- On January 17, 1900, Jailer Alfred “ALF” Henry was dragged into a cell and beaten to death by two prisoners.
- On December 19, 1931, Sheriff C. Roy Kelly was shot and killed by two members of the Barker Gang while investigating a suspicious car. One of the suspects was responsible for the murder of Chief Manley Jackson, of the Pocahontas Police Department, Arkansas. – The Barker Gang committed violent crimes throughout the American Midwest in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Members of the gang were responsible for the murders of at least ten law enforcement officers.
- On December 7, 2007, Howell County transport Officer Laura Whittingham and an inmate were killed in a two-car vehicle accident on U.S. 63 near Houston, MO., as she and another deputy were returning two inmates to Howell County from Missouri Department of Corrections facility.
