Hutchens Family, Officer Daniel Clark and Winston-Salem Officers attend National Police Week Events in Washington
Sgt. Mickey Hutchens is remembered with others
who gave their lives in 2009
Sgt. Hutchens, a PBA member and Winston-Salem officer, was shot in the line of duty on October 7, 2009. He and other officers responded to a panic alarm call at a fast-food restaurant involving a domestic situation between an employee and her ex-husband. When officers arrived on the scene they encountered the suspect leaving the restaurant. The suspect, who was wanted on several warrants, fled on foot. The officers pursued the man around several businesses including the fast-food restaurant before he eventually ran down an embankment. Officers were within a few feet of the suspect when he pulled out a handgun and opened fire, striking Sergeant Mickey Hutchens and Officer Daniel Clark. Despite being wounded, Officer Clark was able to return fire and kill the suspect. Sergeant Hutchens was transported to a local hospital where he remained until succumbing to his wounds five days later. Sergeant Hutchens had served with the Winston- Salem Police Department for 27 years. He is survived by his wife Beth and their two daughters Jill and Leah.
During May of this year members of the Winston-Salem Police Department and members of the Hutchens family attended events in Washington, DC to honor Sgt. Mickey Hutchens. These events were part of National Police Week. Each May during National Police Week, new names are added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. These names include officers who died in the line of duty during the previous calendar year along with historical line of duty deaths. On May 13, 2009, the names of 116 law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty in 2009 were formally dedicated at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial during a Candlelight Vigil.
Jennifer Thacker, national president of the Concerns of Police Survivors
(C.O.P.S.) and Attorney General Eric Holder
Mickey’s daughters Jill and Leah Hutchens at the Candlelight Service at
the
National Memorial on May 13, 2010
Officer Daniel Clark at the Candlelight Service at the National
Memorial on May 13, 2010
U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. led the lighting of candles and reading of the fallen officers’ names during the 22nd annual Candlelight Vigil at the Memorial grounds. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Jennifer Thacker, national president of the Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), also participated in the annual tribute to officers who have died in the line of duty.
The 116 officers who died in 2009 was the lowest law enforcement fatality total since 1959, when 109 officers were killed. In addition, 208 officers who died in previous years but whose deaths had been lost to history were added to the Memorial this year. The monument in Judiciary Square now contains the names of 18,983 law enforcement officers who have died in law enforcement service throughout U.S. history from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and federal law enforcement and military police agencies.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is the nation’s monument to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. Dedicated on October 15, 1991, the Memorial honors federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety and protection of our nation and its people.
The escorts for all of the North Carolina families at the National
Service on
May 15, 2010 on the Capitol lawn.
The Winston-Salem PD Honor Guard observe Mickey's name at the National
Law Enforcement Memorial
The Memorial features two curving, 304-foot-long blue-gray marble walls. Carved on these walls are the names of nearly 19,000 officers who have been killed in the line of duty throughout U.S. history, dating back to the first known death in 1792. Unlike many other memorials in Washington, DC, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is ever-changing: new names of fallen officers are added to the monument each spring, in conjunction with National Police Week.
Designed by architect Davis Buckley, the Memorial sits on three acres of federal park land in an area of Washington, DC, called Judiciary Square, the historic seat of our nation’s judicial branch of government. The Memorial grounds boast plush carpets of grass, nearly 60,000 plants and 128 trees. Each April, more than 10,000 daffodils bloom at the site, providing a burst of color for visitors. The Memorial’s central plaza features an intricate paving pattern and a bronze medallion with the NLEOMF logo: a blue shield with a red rose draped across it.
Bordering the Memorial’s beautifully landscaped park are the two tree-lined "pathways of remembrance" where the names of the fallen officers are engraved. Each of the pathway entrances is adorned with a powerful statuary grouping of an adult lion protecting its cubs. Sculpted by Raymond Kaskey, the bronze statues symbolize the protective role of law enforcement officers and convey the strength, courage and valor that are hallmarks of those who serve and protect.
Beth Hutchens (second from left) with friends and family
Panel 14 West Line 27 – Mickey G. Hutchens
Steve Groeninger, Acting Sr. Director of Marketing & Communications, for the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund contributed to this article. The photo of Attorney General Eric Holder and Jennifer Thacker is used with permission from the same organization.