Richmond, Ky. (May 18, 2016) – Four law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in 2015, and their sacrifice will be honored at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 23 at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training.
Fallen Nicholasville Police Officer Burke Rhoads, Kentucky State Police troopers Eric Chrisman and Cameron Ponder, and Richmond Police Officer Daniel Ellis all will be honored among their family, friends and comrades.
DOCJT will host the annual law enforcement memorial ceremony with Gov. Matthew Bevin serving as keynote speaker. Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary John Tilley and survivor Anthony Jansen also will speak.
The ceremony will be conducted at the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial, located at DOCJT on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. Special music will be performed by Kentucky United Pipes and Drums, as well as Hannah Ellis, surviving cousin of Daniel Ellis.
Additionally, the ceremony will recognize five Kentucky officers killed in the line of duty between 1893 and 2013, but whose names were not added to the national memorial until recently. A name must meet two criteria before it is placed on the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial; First it must already appear on the National Law Enforcement Memorial, and second, a KLEMF nomination form must be completed and submitted. Those officers’ names are:
George W. James, Georgetown Police Department, died Oct. 22, 1893
John R. Russell, Harrodsburg Police Department, died April 25, 1896
Rory J. Draughn, Hazard Police Department, died Dec. 18, 1913
Alford Holland, Hazard Police Department, died Dec. 6, 1922
Anson B. Tribby, Kentucky State Police, died Jan. 22, 2013
The Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial monument is the only monument in the commonwealth that recognizes nearly all Kentucky peace officers who have been killed in the line of duty. This year’s additions bring the total number of names on the monument to 534.
The memorial foundation was established in 1999 to build the unique memorial. Once the monument was completed in 2000, the organization expanded its efforts to include an ongoing financial endowment program, which helps Kentucky peace officers and their families with educational, medical and emergency needs.
*In case of rain, the ceremony will be conducted in Posey Auditorium in EKU’s Stratton building.
