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"Unimaginable:" Jackson Law Enforcement honors the officers lost in the line of duty

Posted at 5:43 PM, May 08, 2024
and last updated 2024-05-08 17:43:43-04
  • Video shows the service held at TRUE Community Credit Union Square in Downtown Jackson.
  • The service included reading 11 names of local officers who were killed in the line of duty.
  • Joyce Bostwick and her family shared their experience, having lost a member of their family, a former officer at the Jackson Police Department.

Wednesday, the community gathered for the City of Jackson's annual Law Enforcement Memorial. It's a time to pay respect to those officers killed in the line of duty. The following names were read aloud and honored at the memorial:

Sergeant Frederick Booth - Jackson Police Department

Captain John Holzapfel - Jackson Police Department

Undersheriff Harry Worden - Jackson County Office of the Sheriff

Officer Leonard Carey - Jackson Police Department

Deputy Fred Reilly - Jackson County Office of the Sheriff

Lieutenant William James Nixon - Jackson Police Department

Trooper Tony L. Thames - Michigan State Police

Officer Niles Johantgen - Atlanta Police Department (Jackson County resident)

Trooper Manuel Fields - Michigan State Police

Officer James Bonneau - Jackson Police Department

Trooper Chad Dermyer - Virginia State Police (Former Jackson Police Department)

Director Elmer Hitt lost one of his own while he was on duty, and says it's a call he'll never forget. "When they're seriously injured or killed, it's unimaginable until you have that experience. I certainly knew one of our own that was killed."

For Joyce Bostwick, one name never gets easier to hear. Joyce lost her father, Lieutenant William James Nixon, in 1978. She says, "It brings up the memory every year we come back, but it's also good to remind the public that they risk their lives each and every day."

"Be grateful they're out there," was Joyce's advice to neighbors. "Don't disrespect them. They're out there and remember what they give for you."

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