Local service held to remember Idaho’s fallen law enforcement
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IDAHO FALLS — A somber service took place Friday at the Bonneville County Courthouse, with local law enforcement and community members gathering to remember officers lost in the line of duty.
The event was to mark National Peace Officer Memorial Day, one of several similar events happening nationwide. This year, 363 names of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty were added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.
During Friday’s service in Idaho Falls, the city’s police chief gave a speech about past friends on the force who had been killed or died by suicide. Chief Bryce Johnson also told of visiting the National Law Enforcement Monument.
“One of the things that struck me was that of all my friends that were dead, only two of their names were on that line,” Johnson said. “That’s just a fraction of the number of people who have given the ultimate sacrifice, because of the profession they have, to the service of their communities.”
The local memorial service is held each year to remember Idaho’s 80 fallen peace officers and seven fallen K-9s. During Friday’s service, each of their names was read aloud.
Some of the officers died many years ago, while others were lost more recently.
Deputy D.H. Dillingham served on the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office and was killed in 1863. Dillingham was shot in Virginia City, Montana, by three men who were “seeking revenge against him,” according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
“Dillingham had discovered that the three, one of whom was a fellow deputy, were going to rob two miners and warned the intended victims. When the three suspects learned of the warning, they located Deputy Dillingham and shot him,” the website states.
Bonneville County Sheriff’s Deputy Wyatt Christopher Maser is one of the fallen officers who died more recently. Maser was struck and killed by a patrol car at the intersection of Bone Road and East 9th South at 5:20 a.m. on May 18, 2020.
“He had initially responded to a single-vehicle rollover crash, but when he arrived, he encountered a woman in a mental crisis walking away from the crash carrying a machete,” the Officer Down Memorial Page states.
“Deputy Maser and another responding deputy attempted to talk to her for several minutes as she continued to disobey commands as she walked in the roadway. A third deputy who was responding to the scene came upon the group on the dark roadway and inadvertently struck Maser.”
Maser was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
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Bonneville County Sheriff Sam Hulse also spoke during Friday’s service. He said these officers’ sacrifices, both recent and historical, should continue to be remembered.
Hulse pointed out that even during the service, officers had to step out and respond to calls.
“That call is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year — whether it’s snowing, whether it’s freezing, whether the sun is beating down on them,” he said. “They have to step out quite often on family events to go and answer the SWAT call, or the emergency services call. Don’t forget that.”
