Newspaper Page Text
The Champion, Thursday, May 14 - 20, 2015
LOCAL
Page 3A
County salutes its
fallen officers
by Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalbchamp.com
Patricia Crumley said she
handled the DeKalb Fallen Officer
Memorial Service better this year
than in the past.
Her son DeKalb County Police
Officer Jarvis Darren Crumley was
killed in the line of duty Dec. 29,
1998.
“It used to make me feel real
bad, sad, lonely, almost like you did
the funeral all over again,” Patricia
Crumley said about the memorial
service held each May. “Now it’s
better for me. It’s good for him to be
remembered. That’s good.”
Jarvis Crumley, who had been
with the department for 16 months,
was responding to a call to assist
another officer. He was traveling
fast when another vehicle pulled out
in front of him. Officer Crumley
swerved to avoid the car, hit a utility
pole and suffered fatal injuries.
The driver of the other vehicle
was arrested later that night on a
drunken driving charge.
Patricia Crumley said she and
her husband Joe participated in sev
eral memorial services, including
one in Washington, in initial years
after their son’s death.
“At the beginning it was more
helpful,” Patricia Crumley said. “As
time went on, I felt like it kept you
grieving, so I stopped for a while.
Now it’s better for some reason.
“It’s good that they haven’t for
gotten him,” said Patricia Crumley,
who was presented with a couple of
spent shells from the 21-gun salute
at the end of the May 6 ceremony,
which acknowledged the sacrifice
of 41 fallen officers from Clarkston,
Decatur, Doraville, DeKalb County
Sheriff’s Office, DeKalb County
Marshall’s Office, MARTA, Pine
Lake and Stone Mountain.
The service, held outside the
old courthouse in Decatur, in
cluded a helicopter flyover and the
ringing of a commemorative bell
after the reading of each fallen of
ficer’s name. Each family of a fallen
DeKalb County police officer was
presented a badge commemorating
the 100th anniversary of the found
ing of the DeKalb County Police
Department.
“Your loved ones are dearly
missed,” interim DeKalb County
Police Chief James Conroy told the
families. “Their sacrifices...shall
never be forgotten.”
Conroy said current officers
owe a debt of gratitude to the fallen
officers. “Our repayment.. .is to
continue to serve daily with pride,”
he said.
Cedric Alexander, deputy chief
operating officer for public safety,
said that while law enforcement
“is under a great deal of scrutiny”
around the nation, “we must always
remember those who have come
and left us.
“We are sorry for their loss,”
Alexander said. “We recognize the
men and women who have lost
their lives. We will never ever for
get. I thank those who have gone
on.
Interim DeKalb County CEO
Lee May said the annual program
also honors those who survive—
“the families who have to put the
pieces back together.”
“We have not forgotten you,”
May said. “We will support you.”
Joe Crumley, father of Officer
Crumley, said the memorial service
made him feel sad.
“It’s just good to know other
people care,” he added.
Patricia and Joe Crumley were saluted during the DeKalb Fallen Officer Memorial Service.
Their son Jarvis Crumley was killed in the line of duty in 1998.
An officer stands in front of the fallen officer memorial outside the old courthouse in Deca
tur. Photos by Andrew Cauthen
Left, officers prepare to give a 21-gun salute while, right, interim DeKalb CEO Lee May, public
safety director Cedric Alexander and interim police chief James Conroy salute during the
Pledge of Allegiance.
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