On Thursday, December 4, 2014, Sergeant John Lawrence (DPSST# 31555) of the City of Bend Police Department suffered a fatal heart attack following his shift in which he responded to a bank holdup alarm. He returned home after completing his shift but collapsed three hours later. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Sergeant Lawrence had served with the Bend Police Department for 10 years and had previously served with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office for over four years.
After extensive review, the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Office (PSOB), under the United States Department of Justice, determined that Sgt. Lawrence’s death was in the line of duty under the PSOB Act 42 United States Code 3796 as the heart attack occurred 24 hours after engaging in an on-duty situation. Sgt. Lawrence’s family members include his wife Jennifer, and children Ryker and Alyssa.
Sgt. Lawrence’s name was added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. http://www.nleomf.org/
The Board’s Police Policy Committee unanimously approved the addition of Sgt. Lawrence’s name to the state memorial at its August 16, 2018 meeting.
The Board on Public Safety Standards and Training voted unanimously this morning at its quarterly meeting to approve the recommendation and add the name of Bend Police Sergeant John Lawrence to the State’s Fallen Law Enforcement Officer Memorial during the May 2019 ceremony.
Staff Recommendation: The death meets the criteria for the Oregon Law Enforcement Officer Memorial. Oregon Administrative Rule 259-008-0100 (ii) A fatal injury may include a medical condition which arises out of law enforcement actions or training for enforcement action or emergency response causing an officer’s death immediately or within 24 hours or causing her/his death during a continuous period of hospitalization resulting from a law enforcement action.
The State memorial currently honors 183 fallen Oregon law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty since the 1880s. This includes officers from city, county, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies who have served as law enforcement officers, corrections officers, and parole and probation officers. The recent line of duty death of Ashland Police Officer Malcus Williams, whose name will also be added during the 2019 ceremony, and the addition of Bend Police Sgt. John Lawrence sadly will raise the number of officers honored on the state memorial to 185.
For more information on the Oregon Fallen Law Enforcement Officer Memorial please visit: http://www.oregon.gov/DPSST/AT/pages/olememorial.aspx
