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Home Hot Topic New committee could decide who will be honoured at Washington’s memorial to law enforcement officers

New committee could decide who will be honoured at Washington’s memorial to law enforcement officers

by Celia

In Olympia, Washington, the determination of which fallen members of law enforcement to include on the state’s official memorial site rests with the Behind the Badge Foundation.

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Currently, the monument bears the names of 341 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in Washington state. These individuals succumbed to various circumstances, including gunfire, car crashes, job-related injuries, heart attacks, and COVID-19.

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Notably absent from the memorial is Pierce County Deputy Daryl Shuey, who passed away in 2020 from a heart attack while removing trash from a stolen car. His omission from the wall stems from the Behind the Badge Foundation’s criteria, which require that a death be a result of strenuous work to merit inclusion.

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Karen Shuey, Daryl Shuey’s wife, has voiced her concerns, expressing a desire to spare other families from the anguish her own has endured. In response, Representative Spencer Hutchens proposed House Bill 2442, aiming to establish a new committee composed of various law enforcement organizations to determine who should be honored on the memorial.

During a hearing on Thursday, Katie DeRosier, whose husband, Cowlitz County Deputy Justin Derosier, was fatally shot on duty in 2019 and is memorialized, testified against altering the selection process. She argued that such changes could compromise the “integrity” of the memorial and the sacrifices of those already commemorated.

Behind the Badge Executive Director Brian Johnston noted that the foundation provides an appeal process for families whose loved ones are not included on the memorial. He emphasized that while the proposed bill introduces a new committee, it does not alter the recognition criteria.

According to Rep. Hutchens, the bill would maintain a Behind the Badge member on the committee, alongside representatives from other organizations, including the Washington State Fraternal Order of Police, the Washington Chapter of the Concerns of Police Survivors, and the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association, among others.

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