Fallen police officers honored

From Rodney Badger, a Weber County sheriff's deputy who drowned in 1853 trying to rescue a mother and six children, to Stephen Anderson, a corrections officer shot to death in June while guarding a prisoner at University Orthopedic Center, 120 Utah peace officers have given their lives in the performance of their duty. On Sunday, about 1,500 supporters rallied on the Capitol grounds for a memorial to honor them.

An estimated 800 participants in the Fall Ride for Fallen Officers drove motorcycles from Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. Most were police officers, but hundreds were civilians, many of them members of motorcycle clubs.

As the ceremony was about to start outside the Capitol, older cyclists with gray beards and head scarves, young men with headbands, young women in black shirts and jeans, and ranks of uniformed police stood quietly together with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. They were joined by family members, friends and officials at a site southwest of the Capitol, where a memorial honoring the fallen officers is to be built.

The governor wore a black leather jacket and at times sported dark sunglasses on top of his head, which he pocketed before he spoke. The backdrop was a field of 120 flags, each honoring one of the officers who died on duty.

Notably absent was Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who broke his leg in seven places Saturday in a motorcycle accident while preparing for the ride. Also, sponsors said two cyclists were involved in a minor accident at the start of the ride and were taken to a hospital but did not appear to have serious injuries.

The event was to raise money for the memorial, expected to cost $1.3 million. Huntsman said that so far, donations totaled about half that amount.

Law officers help secure our lives. "Sometimes we take them for granted," Huntsman added. "We never should."

One of the flags carried the name of Nolan Huntsman, the governor said. The officer was a relative of his who was killed in a shootout in 1924. He said the family is honored to be associated with "a law enforcement officer who made the ultimate sacrifice."

The importance of the proposed memorial was pointed out by Lynette Gurr, widow of the Roosevelt police chief, Cecil Gurr, shot to death in 2001 when he responded to a domestic dispute call. "Oh, my goodness, this is such a humbling sight," she said, looking across the crowd.

She said she and her family were there "because the head of our household is not."