Service Planned to Honor Lawmen Killed on Duty

Representatives from law enforcement agencies throughout the region, along with local elected officials and loved-ones of the fallen will gather Monday evening for a service in Riverside recognizing the sacrifices of officers killed in the line of duty.

The Peace Officers' Memorial Ceremony is slated to get underway at 6:15 p.m. at the Safe in His Arms statue fronting the Riverside Police Department on Orange Street.

The names of two lawmen who died in 2013 will be unveiled on the statue - - Riverside police Officer Michael Crain and California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation Officer Gilbert Cortez.

Crain, 34, was slain on Feb. 7, 2013, by rogue ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, who went on a vengeance killing spree, targeting individuals he had convinced himself were personal enemies.

Cortez, 46, died on March 25, 2013, in a crash on state Route 79 near San Felipe Road in San Diego County. His K9 partner, a German Shepherd mix named Mattie, was also killed in the rollover wreck. They were assigned to a post in Norco.

Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz, Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff and CDCR Warden Cynthia Tampkins will be among those paying homage.

The Safe in His Arms statue, will bear the names of 62 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty after Monday.

According to the Riverside County Law Enforcement Memorial Committee, the fallen are comprised of eight Border Patrol agents, nine California Highway Patrol officers, one California CDCR agent, one California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement officer, two Cathedral City police officers, one Corona policeman, two Palm Springs police officers, 16 Riverside police officers, 21 sheriff's deputies and a Union Pacific Railroad police officer.

The list of names goes back to 1895.

– City News Service.