Memorial Planned for Fallen Officers

Howard E. Dallies Jr. was gunned down during a traffic stop. Michael Rainford was killed by a drunk driver. Myron L. Trapp was killed in a gun battle with a suspected murderer. Donald F. Reed was slain while serving an arrest warrant. Andrew R. Reese was directing traffic when he was struck and killed by a car.

The Garden Grove Police Department has lost more officers than any other police agency in Orange County history, Officer David Abrecht said. And “each officer left behind a family, and that family continues to suffer the loss of their loved ones,” he said.

To honor those killed in the line of duty, a committee of officers and others is raising money for a memorial to be installed next summer in front of the Police Department headquarters at 11301 Acacia Parkway.

The proposal is for a life-size bronze statue of an officer on one knee, a folded flag in one hand, with his head down and his face shielded by his other hand. Names and photos of slain officers will be engraved on plaques and placed on walls around the statue. The memorial will be in a plaza with benches and landscaping.

Committee members have raised $30,000 so far of $100,000 needed for the project, Abrecht said.

During the 1980s, the officers’ wives memorialized the men with brass plaques placed in front of newly planted trees near the police station. In 1990, Garden Grove Elks Lodge No. 1952 and the Garden Grove Police Assn. decided on a memorial spot near the Police Department. Since then, a memorial service has been held in conjunction with National Peace Officers Week to honor the officers.

“This memorial will be a time of reflection and a time to remember the officers as human beings, not as statistics,” Abrecht said.