San Jose’s fallen police officers honored with new monument

White roses adorned a newly unveiled monument at the San Jose Police Department this past week, dedicated to officers who died in the line of duty.

City leaders, including Mayor Matt Mahan, and police officers attended an Oct. 4 memorial service debuting the monument. It honors the 13 SJPD officers who have died from 1924 to 2016.

Plaques at the base of the monument—which resembles an enlarged SJPD police badge with a black sash across the front—name the officers who have died. Among the officers being recognized are Michael Katherman, who died at Regional Medical Center in 2016 after an accident, and Michael J. Johnson, who died during a shootout in 2015.

“The Fallen Officer Monument and the memorial we held for its unveiling celebrates the lives of the fallen and forever keeps them in our hearts and prayers,” a spokesperson for SJPD told San José Spotlight.

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New monument at the San Jose Police Department honors 13 fallen police officers. #news #sanjose #journalism

♬ Piano solo with a warm yet somber atmosphere.(1379564) – nana

Family members of the officers attended the monument’s unveiling, a project that took more than eight years to complete. Attendees held blue candles during the service in memory of those who died, with some placing white roses in front of the plaques. Bagpipers played the traditional memorial song “Going Home” while Mahan gave a speech acknowledging the officers’ bravery and sacrifice to the city and its residents.

“I personally get to walk past this every morning as I go to work, but it’s most profound when I walk past it as I am leaving work to come back home, something none of these officers got to do on their final day and something all officers know we risk doing this job,” said SJPD officer and former Councilmember Raul Peralez on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Contact Jason Torres Iraheta at [email protected].