Community to recognize fallen law enforcement officers

Jamie Berry, The Norman Transcript, Okla.
·3 min read

May 14—The Cleveland County community can come together today to honor law enforcement employees who died while doing their duties.

The memorial service will be at 5 p.m. today at Legacy Park, 1898 Legacy Park Drive, to remember the county's fallen law enforcement officers and employees.

According to the program, the purpose of the event is to honor "those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep our community safe."

The service will involve the Norman, University of Oklahoma and Moore police departments, along with the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.

Speakers and presenters will include police chaplain Lt. Brandon Burris, Norman Police Chief Kevin Foster, District Judge Thad Balkman, Citizens Police Academy Alumni of Norman board member Denise Madole, OU Police Chief Nate Tarver and CPAAN president Judy Hixon. The ceremony will also host a multi-agency Honor Guard.

The following is a list of the fallen officers being memorialized during Friday's public event:

—Moore Officer Danny R. Vanderpool died May 18, 1979, following a traffic wreck west of Guthrie, while on duty. He was hired in 1977 at age 18 to work undercover narcotics and eventually reassigned to work undercover narcotics for Edmond police. He is the only Moore police officer to be killed in the line of duty.

—Norman Det. Lt. Jerry Bratcher died Nov. 24, 1963, following a traffic collision in rural east Norman while investigating a stolen car report. He was born July 30, 1934, in McComb and worked in a foundry in Kansas and as a civilian employee at Tinker Air Force Base before he was hired by the NPD on Feb. 13, 1958.

—Norman Officer Melvin Miner was shot to death July 30, 1972, while trying to arrest a homicide suspect. He was born born June 10, 1947, in Goodnight, Oklahoma, and was hired by the NPD on Jan. 7, 1972, after finishing a tour of duty with the United States Air Force.

—Norman Sgt. Dale DeBerry collapsed due to a heart attack Dec. 1, 1998, at the NPD firearms range during a physical fitness training course. He was born May 20, 1957, and joined the NPD on April 26, 1984. He received numerous awards, including being named several times to the Governor's Twenty.

—County sheriff's Deputy William H. Abbott, 40, was shot Feb. 14, 1912, by a suspect he was trying to serve a warrant on following a charge of insanity. He died three days later.

—County sheriff's Deputy Grover Fulkerson, 30, died Aug. 24, 1917, after being shot in the stomach by a bootlegging suspect who obtained the deputy's pistol after it fell into the suspect's vehicle. He was chief deputy with the sheriff's office and was able to make a statement about the events before his death. On the night of his death, he was guarding the Canadian River bridge against "Night Riders."

—County sheriff's office dispatcher Rona Chafey, 35, died April 19, 1995, in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building. She had been reassigned as a clerk for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Jamie Berry covers police and court news for The Transcript. Reach her at jberry@normantranscript.com, 366-3532 or @JamieStitches13.

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