Officer Fred B. Veretto joined the Oakland Police Department in 1941. Called to active military service in 1943, he served in the Navy until he was discharged in January 1943, and then he returned to the department.

A year after his return, he was dispatched with officers John Mullen, Samuel Madsen and Ivan Denmun, to a family disturbance where there was a man brandishing a gun.

Officers Veretto and Mullen stood near the front door and knocked at the residence. All the officers could hear a man muttering in Spanish on the other side of the door. Without warning, the door was flung open and the man fired twice with his handgun. Veretto and Mullen each fired two times striking the man. Veretto fell through the doorway calling to the others that he had been shot. Mullen grabbed the suspect as he continued to shoot. A round passed through his clothing and the pants of Denmun. The suspect died of wounds sustained in the altercation. In all, 12 shots were exchanged between the suspect and the officers.

Veretto was transported to Merritt Hospital. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the groin that severed an artery, causing massive blood loss. Doctors were able to stabilize his condition, and with transfusions of blood donated by his fellow officers, he began to show improvement over the following days. Then, Veretto suffered a setback, and his condition took a turn for the worse. Complications developed in his kidneys as a result of the shock of the wound. He died of these complications on January 7.

Veretto, 32, was survived by his mother, brother (Inspector Joseph Veretto), and two sisters.

In 1937, “Hugh” Garrison joined the Visalia Police Department and served in this capacity until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Upon his discharge in 1946, he returned to the department.

On November 6, 1946, 38-year-old Sergeant Garrison and a 23-year-old suspect, Clyde Bauer of Woodlake, were both mortally wounded.

Police had been on the alert for Bauer for about 43 hours, as he was suspected of stealing an automobile from a Main Street garage after smashing a storeroom window.

While attempting to arrest the fugitive, a confrontation developed between Garrison and Bauer, both of whom were armed. Garrison was shot once at close range and the suspect, Bauer, was struck twice.

Sergeant Garrison, who was survived by his wife, Geneva (now deceased), was interred in the Visalia Cemetery on November 7, 1946. In 1992, relatives donated Sergeant Garrison’s badge and Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver inscribed “CHG” to the Visalia Police Department museum.

Officer William L. Reardon was stopped on his motorcycle monitoring traffic on U.S. Highway 99 near Newhall when he was struck and killed by a drunk driver. Reardon, 52, was a 14-year veteran of the Highway Patrol. He had previously served with the Glendale Police Department and the Los Angeles County Traffic Squad before becoming a member of the CHP in 1932 when the state absorbed the Los Angeles County Squad.