LA County law enforcement remembers its own killed in the line of duty
It’s a memorial wall they don’t want to be adding names to. Yet for a 54th year, on Wednesday, May 24, law enforcement in ceremonies in Los Angeles honored officers lost to the violence they are sworn to protect against, and other dangers they face daily.
Peace officers killed in the line of duty, including two who died nearly a century ago and those killed in recent months, were honored Wednesday at the annual Los Angeles County Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony at the Biscailuz Center Training Academy in Los Angeles.
The ceremony, at the Memorial Wall on the grounds of the Training Academy, brought together heads of police agencies from throughout the region and the families of those slain.
And on Thursday, May 25, a memorial ceremony was held for 10 Los Angeles Police Department officers who have died in the line of duty since 1915 while assigned to the department’s Northeast Division.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore presided over the afternoon ceremony at the LAPD Northeast Station. On hand were department commanders, Northeast Division personnel and family. The ceremony included “the dedication of an ‘End of Watch’ memorial sculpture in memory of the 10 officers who have died in the line of duty” while in the division, an LAPD statement said.
Those honored in the L.A. County Peace Officers’ Memorial at the Training Academy were:
— Police Officer II Fernando U. Arroyos, of the LAPD, shot by gang members;
— Police Officer Houston R. Tipping, of the LAPD, who died during a training exercise;
— Sgt. Michael D. Paredes, of the El Monte PD, slain while responding to a report of a stabbing;
— Police Officer Joseph A. Santana, of the El Monte PD; slain with his partner, Sgt. Michael Paredes, while responding to a report of a stabbing;
— Officer Andy Ornelas, of the CHP, who died after an on-duty motorcycle crash on Nov. 23, 2020;
— Detective Amber Leist, of the sheriff’s department, who died when struck by a car while helping a woman who fell in an intersection, on Jan. 12, 2020;
— Officer Juan J. Diaz, of the LAPD, who died on July 27, 2019, shot in Lincoln Heights while off-duty; and
— Officer Esmeralda P. Ramirez, of the LAPD, who died on June 9, 2019.
— Officer John M. Black, of the sheriff’s department, who died on Nov. 22, 1929;
— Officer Morgan W. Honeycutt, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, who died on Dec. 19, 1928;
In the LAPD Northeast Division, the ten officers honored and their dates of death are:
— Sgt. John F. Toolen, Oct. 19, 1915;
— Policeman George E. Papst, July 27, 1924;
— Patrolman Arthur L. Davenport, May 16, 1926;
— Policeman William H. Marple, Feb. 27, 1929;
— Policeman John M. Schomaker, Feb. 27, 1929;
— Policeman Paul Donath, April 28, 1932;
— Policeman Malcolm L. Beaty, Aug. 29, 1966;
— Policeman Donald L. Highley, Feb. 10, 1968;
— Detective Abiel “Abe” Barron, June 25, 2003; and
— Police Officer Landon Dorris, Oct. 22, 2006.