Law enforcement and first responders across the community came out for an annual ceremony honoring eight fallen officers and one K-9 officer with the Hollywood Police Department who died in the line of duty.
Thursday’s ceremony at the Hollywood Police Department Headquarters also included two officers who lost their lives to suicide.
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WATCH HERE“Each officer impacted our community tremendously and every year we hope to remind our community of their passion and courage,” said Chief Chris O’Brien with the Hollywood Police Department.
A trumpeter playing “Taps” set the tone for a touching tribute in remembrance of the men and women who gave their lives while on the job.
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The most recent Hollywood Officer to end his watch was Yandy Chirino. In October of 2021, the 28-year-old was shot and killed while responding to a person who was attempting to break into cars in a residential area of Hollywood.
Miriam Spalla lost her son, Officer Alex Del Rio, in 2008.
“I think about the life of my son, what he did for this community and how he loved being a police officer and how he gave his life for us. It gives me the strength to carry on and see that everyone cares,” Spalla said.
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Family members of the fallen laid red roses for each officer as the memorial included full honors for those who will not be forgotten.
“She was going into the car attempting to rescue someone and they decided to grab her gun and they shot her,” said Stephanie Shivers, the daughter of fallen Officer Frankie Shivers.
Stephanie Shivers was four years old when her mother, Officer Frankie Shivers, was killed in 1982 by a woman who was trying to commit suicide but ended up shooting the officer instead.
The pain is still fresh for the families of the fallen.
“I lost my mother. A lot of people lost their husbands, their fathers — I lost my mother," Shivers said. "I lost the person who was supposed to teach me how to be a woman, who was supposed to teach me how to raise my children and show me things and that was taken from me. No matter what the time frame is, the scars run deep and the emotion is very real."
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, so far there have been 33 officer line of duty deaths in the U.S. in 2023 and there were 245 last year.
