Recalling his eight years as Los Angeles’ chief of police, Daryl Gates counted 16 officers in that time “who have given their lives in the line of duty.”

“And every time one of us is killed,” said Gates, “the rest of us wear black bands around our badges. Well, I’m taking my black band off. I don’t need a black band to remember Arleigh and Ron.”

The names Gates was referring to, of course, are Detective Arleigh McCree and Officer Ronald Ball, the two members of the police bomb squad who were killed Saturday trying to defuse a pipe bomb in North Hollywood.

Gates was one of more than 3,000 people, including solemn representatives from virtually every police jurisdiction in Southern California, from around the nation and from the armed services gathered yesterday at the Scottish Rite Temple for a memorial service honoring the fallen policemen.

“I cannot remember when two deaths have stirred the department as deeply,” said Gates, who called McCree and Ball “heroes whose deaths have made us realize the awesome, awesome task of securing the peace in our communities.”

The 50-minute service, which opened with the playing of bagpipes, was led by Assistant Police Chief Robert Vernon, who read the 23rd Psalm and other portions of the Bible and then followed with what he called “the department’s official eulogies.”

In remembering McCree and Ball, both of whom were previous recipients of the department’s Medal of Valor, Vernon described McCree as “a calm, efficient, devoted, dedicated, unselfish professional.”

Vernon then quoted one of Ball’s previous commanding officers that said some years ago that in Ball’s case, “Outstanding is almost not enough for this copper.”

Jim Trahin, Ball’s former partner, used Ball’s nickname, “The Wizard,” to recall how expert he was in his chosen field of law enforcement, firearms and explosives.

“But more than that he was a compassionate and sentimental human being who was born 100 years too late,” said Trahin, who talked affectionately of Ball’s love “of his family, his home in Simi Valley, his western shirts and his cowboy boots.”

“Arleigh and Ron leave a legacy,” said Gates, “a legacy of devotion – to flag, community and nation. They are the kind of heroes that built America and made it strong.”

Interment was private, and at the request of both families, the police department’s Copper Creek Band played country and western music as the mourners filed out of the Scottish Rite Temple and into the rain.

Edith McCree eulogized her husband as a man who “made an indelible mark for all of us, and in doing so will never be gone from our lives.”

Besides his wife, McCree leaves a son, John, and a daughter, Kathleen McCree Downing.

Ball is survived by his wife, Ann, two daughters, Stacy and Tiffany Bardy, and a son, Scott.

Reprinted from The Los Angeles Herald Examiner
February 16, 1986

San Diego County rookie Deputy Kelly Ann Bazer, 28, was shot and killed by fleeing armed robbers on Jan. 13, 1986, while off-duty on the evening of her sixth day at the Police Academy. The three robbers were later convicted and sentenced to long prison terms.

Bazer became the first San Diego County woman deputy killed in the line of duty and the first San Diego County deputy, male or female, shot and killed since 1865. She was the second woman law enforcement officer killed in San Diego County.

Bazer, who had been sworn in as deputy sheriff one month earlier, had attended her sixth day of a 4-month recruit class at the Police Academy, when she parked her car outside her sister’s home. She was wearing a deputy s uniform but without insignia or a badge. She made a practice of stopping by her sister’s home each evening to report on her day at the Academy.

Suddenly two armed men ran out into the street and one was hollering at her to give him her car keys. The two men had just robbed the Safeway (grocery) Store and escaped with $2,000 in cash after brutally beating and robbing the store manager and holding several hostages inside the store.

The robbery was apparently poorly planned as their get-away driver was not there as they exited the store and they hijacked a car from a man outside the store. However, the two fleeing robbers soon abandoned that car when they could not figure out how to release the emergency brake. As they fled on foot, they saw Bazer parking her car and one said to the other, “There’s our ride.”

As the two men approached Bazer shouting that they wanted her car keys, she attempted to flee. She was not armed and was wearing a cadet uniform which did not identify her as a deputy sheriff. One of the robbers shot Bazer in the back from five feet away, and she fell to the pavement. One robber then bent down and picked up her car keys, and the two men fled the scene in Bazer’s auto, a blue Ford Mustang.

As neighbors ran to help the fallen Bazer, a red pick-up truck pulled up to the crime scene, asked where the men had gone, and then sped away. The neighbors thought the pick-up was driven by someone trying to catch the suspects, but police later determined that the driver was the get-away driver who had earlier failed to pick-up his two robber companions.

One of the first deputies to arrive on the scene was Pat Hartigan, who was dating Bazer. He attempted to comfort her as they awaited paramedics. Bazer was rushed to Grossmont Hospital by paramedics but went into full cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital. She was pronounced dead at 8:23 p.m.

A massive search team was quickly organized comprised of 200 law enforcement officers from the San Diego Sheriff s Dept., the San Diego, Chula Vista, and National City Police departments, the California Highway Patrol and the U.S. Border Patrol. The team included five helicopters, horses, and tracking dogs.

Bazer’s car was found abandoned a short distance from the murder scene, and the two robbers got into the red pick-up with their get-away driver. A short time later, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Kevin Rudd saw a head in the bed of a pick-up and suspected illegal aliens were in the pick-up. He turned on his red overhead lights to stop the pick-up which then sped away. During the chase one suspect (unknown to Rudd) was thrown from the pick-up and then the two others jumped from the pick-up, abandoning it in the Bonita area. Agent Rudd found two revolvers, more than $2,000 in cash, a portable police scanner, a ski mask and other evidence inside the pick-up.

Because of Rudd’s alertness the search team was able to focus on the Bonita area. Phone calls came in from several citizens reporting “seeing men running through backyards and jumping fences.” The three suspects were successfully tracked during the all-night manhunt and by 7:42 a.m. all three had been arrested.

Ronnie D. Williams, 20, Jesse L. Stuart, 19, and Prentice Byrd, 19, were arrested and held without bond for the murder of Bazer and the armed robbery of the Safeway. All three were members of the Neighborhood crip gang and had criminal records.

Stuart, 19, the triggerman had a criminal record back to the age of 14.

The three men pled not guilty and were assigned public defenders. Stuart was convicted of first degree murder, robbery and burglary on July 31, 1986. He was sentenced to 35 years to life on Sept. 11, 1986, but that sentence was overturned on appeal. On Dec. 2, 1987, he was again sentenced to 35 years to life.

Ronnie D. Williams was convicted of first-degree murder at trial and sentenced to 33 years and eight months in prison. Prentice Byrd pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life.

Bazer was born Kelly Ann Hotchkiss on May 11, 1957, to Thomas and Gail Hotchkiss. She graduated from Granite Hills High School in 1975 and later studied to become a medical technician. Before joining the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, she worked at the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Center.

Shortly after graduating from high school, she married Michael Bazer, and the couple had two children, Jess, and Andrea. At the time of her death, she and her husband were in the process of a divorce and were involved in a custody dispute over their two children.

Bazer, 28, was hired by the San Diego Co. Sheriff’s Department in late 1985 and was sworn in on Dec. 13. She began a 4-month recruit class with 72 other cadets (including seven women) at the Southwestern Community College in Chula Vista on Jan. 3, 1986. She had been issued her standard Magnum .357-caliber revolver during a firearms class only hours before she was killed but was instructed not to carry the weapon until she had completed her training.

Besides her husband and children, Bazer was survived by her father and stepmother, Thomas and Nancy Hotchkiss of El Cajon; mother, Gail Reed Patterson of Capistrano Beach; and a sister of Spring Valley.

Throughout the day, he looked alternately confused and full of wonder. He gazed skyward as helicopters flew by and focused straight ahead to hear the whispering words of the city’s police chief.

A miniature police badge adorning the lapel of his blue blazer glistened in the sun.

When the graveside service was over, 6-year-old Ryan Williams rubbed his eyes with his hands, trying to keep the tears off his cheeks.

On his tiny lap lay the American flag that had draped the coffin of his father, slain Los Angeles police Detective Thomas Williams, buried in a Mission Hills cemetery November 5.

Five days earlier, the boy had watched in horror as his father’s life ended at 42, struck by a killer’s gunshots outside a Canoga Park day care center. The uninjured youngster might have died, too, authorities said, had the detective not warned his son, “Duck down.”

The warning – the final, selfless act of a dedicated police officer, father, husband and friend – was typical of Thomas Williams, said the three men who eulogized him at a memorial service that preceded the burial.

“His last act on Earth was to save the life of his young son,” said Father John Murray, a priest at Our Lady of the Valley, the Canoga Park Catholic Church that Williams attended. “What better image could we have of him? A fallen hero.”

Inside the overflowing church, some of the nearly 2,000 mourners stood along the walls during the service, while others prayed from the balcony, the lobby and the building’s front steps. Williams’ fellow Los Angeles police officers affixed black bands of mourning across their badges.

Roger Rowe, a classmate of William’s at military school and at Cal State Northridge, recalled his friend as a multifaceted man of integrity.

“There are still people outside in society who believe mere bullets can stop a man like Tom Williams,” Rowe said. “You can’t kill the ideals and principles he stands for.

“Tom, I’m proud to say I was your friend,” Rowe said. “The things you stand for are not dead.”

The detective’s murder, described by Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates as the first time an officer was stalked and killed, prompted an abundance of sympathy from police throughout Southern California. More than 1,000 officers from more than a dozen agencies attended the memorial and graveside services, creating a mile-long funeral procession of more than 500 vehicles to San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

“Tom was a man who meant so much to so many, who touched so many lives in so many ways,” Los Angeles police Chaplain Jerry Powell told mourners. “We say goodbye to a member of our family.”

At the graveside, a police honor guard fired the traditional gun salute, police helicopters flew above in the “missing-man” formation and a bagpiper played “Amazing Grace.”

After a bugler sounded “Taps,” the uniformed Chief Gates presented the American flag from atop the coffin to young Ryan Williams, then squatted before the boy, his 17-year-old sister, Susan, and the late officer’s widow, Norma, to individually whisper words of condolence.

Afterward, Gates hugged several tearful mourners.

“There’s so little you can say,” a somber Gates said after talking with Williams’ family. “It’s a very difficult situation.”

Four men were charged with the murder of Detective William’s, who was ambushed outside his son’s day-care canter.

The special circumstance allegations filed against the four defendants include lying in wait, killing a police officer and killing a witness.

Hundreds of police officers from as far away as Eureka and San Jose were among those honoring Jose “Joe” Cisneros, a Solano County sheriff’s deputy who was killed Sunday, Aug. 25, in the line of duty.

Uniformed officers from more than two dozen police departments and nearly a dozen sheriff’s departments stood in rows 12 deep, 30 across, on the lawn in front of the Bryan-Braker Funeral Home during the hour-long afternoon service.

Three lanes in front of the funeral home were used to park hundreds of cars and motorcycles.

Cisneros was shot to death while making a traffic stop near Vacaville. Two men were arrested within half an hour after a high-speed chase that ended near Winters in Yolo County.

Cisneros, a 13-year veteran of the department, was remembered by friends and colleagues as a warm family man and a model peace officer.

“He was a quiet guy, always calm. If you had the same beat, you were safe with Joe,” said Sgt. Ray Vaneck of the Solano County Sheriff’s Department.

“He was well liked by everyone he met,” said Solano Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Monroe. “”I feel a spoke in the wheel of life has been torn from us.”

Los Gallos, a trio of musicians, performed ballads between tributes to Cisneros.

Joe Sandoval of the governor’s office presented a flag to Cisneros’ widow, Elsa, and daughter, 13-year-old Cassandra, both of Fairfield.

Cisneros was born in Douglas, Ariz., in 1944 and became a sergeant in the Air Force before joining the Solano Sheriff’s Department.

He also is survived by a brother, Juan, of Douglas.

A reception in the Fairfield Community Center followed the services.

Officer Dean J. Esquibel was providing back-up in the high-speed pursuit of a fleeing motorcycle on State Route 198 near the Kings-Tulare County line. The two units were passing a truck when a driver ahead of the truck braked and a passenger car slowed and began to skid sideways. The truck then swerved left to avoid hitting the skidding car, forcing the two officers to swerve. Both patrol units spun out of control and Esquibel’s patrol car veered into a parked Caltrans road grader and burst into flames. The impact of the collision pinned the officer inside the burning vehicle. A passing truck driver extinguished the flames and CHP Officer Greg De La Cruz, who was himself injured, pulled Esquibel from the wreckage. Officer Esquibel, who was 23-years-old and a member of the CHP for just one year, died two weeks later. The motorcyclist was captured and charged with felony hit-and-run driving, resisting arrest, evading a police officer and driving with a suspended license.

Officer Raymond E. Miller was standing with a truck driver he was citing for illegally parking on the shoulder of Interstate 5 near Bakersfield when a truck-tractor drifted on to the shoulder and crashed into the patrol unit. The impact of the collision rammed the patrol car into the two men, crushing their legs. The truck then continued across all traffic lanes into the center divider where it overturned. Although he had sustained severe leg injuries, Miller directed traffic and emergency operations as he lay, on the ground. Three-weeks after the accident, Officer Miller died of a massive pulmonary embolism while waiting for surgery on his injured legs. He was 41-years-old and a 16-year CHP veteran.

Miller joined the CHP in 1969 and spent four years in Los Angeles, two in Fort Tejon and the remainder in Bakersfield. He left behind a wife, Denise, and his children, Paul, 18, and Dana, 15.

Detective Monty Conley died August 5, 1985, as a result of a traffic accident while investigating a narcotic’s case. Also killed was his partner, Detective Joseph Landin. A driver ran a stop sign and slammed into the deputies’ patrol unit on the Highway 99 and Avenue 120 off ramp.

The driver was subsequently sentenced to five years, four months in prison on the conviction of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

The deputies were members of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Narcotic’s Task Force. Prior to joining the Department, Conley worked as a patrol officer for Woodlake Police Department from 1972 to 1973.

Conley joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1973. He worked in various divisions, most recently serving as assistant commander of the narcotics division. He was voted Officer of The Year by the Visalia Optimists Club this spring and was a member of the California Narcotics Task Force.

Conley was born in Shamrock, Texas, and moved to Woodlake in 1955. He attended Woodlake High School and College of the Sequoias and became Woodlake’s youngest police officer at age 19.

He lived in Woodlake with is wife, Rosalie, and their 7-year-old son, Matthew Earl.

Detective Joseph Landin died August 5, 1985, as a result of a traffic accident while investigating a narcotic’s case. Also killed was his partner, Detective Monty Conley. A driver ran a stop sign and slammed into the deputies’ patrol unit on the Highway 99 and Avenue 120 off ramp.

The driver was subsequently sentenced to five years, four months in prison on the conviction of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

The deputies were members of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Narcotic’s Task Force.

Prior to joining the Department in 1981, Landin was a patrol officer for the Woodlake Police Department from 1974 to 1981.

Landin, 34, lived in Woodlake at the time of his death. He left a wife, Betty, and three small children.

Landin joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1981 after six years as a Woodlake police officer. He was a 1968 graduate of Woodlake High School and also graduated from College of the Sequoias and the Tulare-Kings County Law Enforcement Academy.

With the department, Landin served in several divisions including the Sheriff’s Tactical Enforcement Patrol, which patrols high-crime areas and the narcotics division.

He was secretary and current vice president of the Latino Peace Officers Association and a member of the Woodlake branch of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Association.

A native of Lamesa, Texas, Landin moved to Woodlake in 1965 and settled there with his wife, Bette, and three young children – sons Joseph and Christopher and daughter Monica.

The path of a dedicated San Jose police officer, Henry I. Bunch, and a 42-year-old transient crossed Monday, July 29, ending in sudden death for both of them.

Officer Bunch, 33, was shot in the head while preparing to administer a blood-alcohol test to Robert Ordonez who grabbed the officer’s 41-magnum revolver and fired one shot.

The episode occurred as Bunch and Ordonez were alone in a locked room of the Alcohol Investigation Bureau.

Bunch and his partner, Officer Richard Bridges, had arrested and handcuffed Ordonez after finding him slumped over the wheel of a parked car.

Bridges stated that he left Bunch with Ordonez and went to put his own pistol in a locker, which is department policy. He heard a shot and ran back to the booking room. Upon entering he was assaulted by Ordonez with Bunch’s gun. Bridges managed to wrestle the gun away. Two shots were fired, with the second one hitting the transient in the head.

Bridges then pushed an alarm button to summon help. Both Bunch and Ordonez were pronounced dead at the scene.

Assistant Police Chief Stan Horton said Bunch apparently made a fatal mistake when he failed to put his gun away before removing the suspect’s handcuffs in preparation for the blood-alcohol test.

“The policy . . . is to secure the gun first,” Horton said. Keeping a gun at hand, even when dealing with a belligerent suspect, merely increases the danger, he added.

Bunch, a five-year veteran of the force, had won praise from citizens and commendations from the department. He was an “outstanding” officer, according to his superiors.

“My guess is that he merely forgot to put his gun away,” said patrol division chief Larry Stuefloten. “Sometimes the greatest danger in this job is the routine (situation).”

Bunch was the first San Jose officer in 15 years to be shot to death in the line of duty.

Officer Bunch joined the San Jose Police Department in 1980. Previous service includes six years as a police officer in Daly City, and three years as a cadet/dispatcher in Corte Madera. He is survived by his wife and his 6-year-old daughter by a previous marriage and two stepchildren, ages 3 and 4.

Funeral services were held on Thursday, Aug. 1, at the First Baptist Church of San Jose followed by interment at the Oak Hill Cemetery.

Mrs. Bunch wrote the following letter after her husband’s death:

TO ALL POLICE OFFICERS EVERYWHERE:

Have courage and strength. Continue to believe in the rightness of your position in life. Live life as keepers of peace and love each other and your families.

Thank you all, for sharing your strength and convictions with me on this dark day. Each of you brought me a little light, a lot of respect and took away a great degree of loneliness.
Sincerely,
Nancy Bunch

CPO H.D. “Hal” Burchfield, Correctional Sergeant, San Quentin, was murdered by a convict while on duty June 8, 1985.

Burchfield had worked the profession for more than a decade serving at several correctional prisons. He cared about this group of peace officers and his commitment to its professionalization will not be forgotten.

He was a correctional peace officer, who started his career on October 13, 1974, at Folsom State Prison as a Correctional Officer. He transferred to Sierra Conservation Center as a Correctional Program Supervisor 1. He was then promoted to San Quentin as a Correctional Sergeant on July 14, 1983.

Burchfield is survived by his wife, Barbara, and five children ranging in ages from 2 to 17 years old.