Moultrie, Colquitt County law enforcement honor fallen officers from across Georgia

Published 5:49 pm Friday, May 13, 2022

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Local law enforcement personnel honored fallen colleagues both locally and statewide in the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Day Friday. 

Held at the amphitheater in front of the courthouse, law enforcement personnel from around the county gathered to honor peace officers who gave their life in the performance of their duties. 

The event was conducted by Sheriff Rod Howell and featured a joint Moultrie Police Department and Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office color guard. Retired director of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center Marty Smith was the keynote speaker. 

“It is a solemn event for which we are gathered here today but it is great to see so many of the people with whom I have spent so much time with… It is an honor to remember the people who gave the ultimate sacrifice to hold the line between good and evil,” Smith said during his speech. 

The annual event serves not only to honor the six local officers who have died in their service but to honor all officers who have fallen throughout the state and throughout the nation. 

This year saw an inordinate number of peace officers’ deaths. Nationwide 522 officers and 21 K9 officers died in the line of duty. Thirty-nine of those were officers throughout the state of Georgia. The amount is substantially higher than previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Howell.

“While all officers who gave their life is a tragedy, we saw a greater number in the past year than years before. The COVID pandemic took many of these brave men and women as society deemed them ‘essential workers.’ Never wavering in their duties, these men and women never took a day off,” Howell said. 

Thirty of the 39 Georgia officers who died in the past year died due to COVID, according to notes provided by Howell to The Observer. The others fell to gun violence, vehicular accidents, various other acts of violence or health related causes. 

Moultrie Police Chief Sean Ladson and Howell took turns to read off and commemorate the Georgia officers’ names before commemorating their own offices’ fallen peacekeepers. 

Fallen officers in Colquitt County: 

• Colquitt County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Reed Wilder, died Jan. 31, 1986, to gunfire.
• Moultrie Police Lt. Thomas Jackson Meredith, died Aug. 25, 1973, to gunfire.
• Georgia Department of Revenue Agent Daniel J. Hancock, 52, a Moultrie resident, died May 17, 1962, in an automobile accident in Dougherty County.
• Moultrie Police Officer Roy Edward James, died Aug. 13, 1960, to gunfire.
• Doerun Police Officer Lawrence M. O’Neal, died April 7, 1959, to gunfire.
• Moultrie Police Officer Julian Reed “Jack” Palmer, died Aug. 23, 1934, when his own weapon went off during a motorcycle wreck.