Fallen officers honored during Law Enforcement Memorial Service

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ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack Jr. and law enforcement officials from Mobile and Baldwin counties hosted a Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Thursday, May 13, honoring those who have been killed in the line of duty.

A memorial at the BCSO Central Investigations Command Center was dedicated by Sheriff Jimmy Johnson and Chief Deputy Larry Milstid in 2001 honoring seven officers who had been killed in the line of from Baldwin County since 1895.

In the last decade, three officers from Baldwin County have been killed in the line of duty and added to the memorial, BCSO Deputy Scott Ward in 2012, Orange Beach Police Officer Michael D. Stockwell in 2013 and Loxley Police Officer Charles Kerry Mitchum in 2015.

In 2020, the name of Sheriff’s Deputy Abram “Abe” Johnson, who was killed in the line of duty in December of 1881, was added to the list. Abe Johnson was the brother of Joel Johnson, Sheriff Jimmy Johnson’s grandfather.

Sheriff Huey Hoss Mack welcomed those in attendance, including elected officials including Sen. Chris Elliot, representatives Matt Simpson and Harry Shiver, Probate Judge Harry D’Olive, District Attorney Robert Wilters, and County Commissioners Jeb Ball, Skip Gruber and Billie Jo Underwood. Also in attendance were representatives from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office, members of the Baldwin County Patriot Guard, representatives from local and state law enforcement and the FBI’s Southern District office in Mobile.

Mack also welcomed special guest Cindy Hatcher, president of Concerns of Police Survivors' Alabama Chapter, whose son was killed in the line of duty.

Following an invocation by BCSO chaplain Joe Aldrete and the Presentation of Colors by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Honor Guard and Pledge of Allegiance led by Chief Deputy Col. Anthony Lowery, guest speaker for the event was Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mark Sabol with the FBI Southern District office in Mobile.

The names of officers killed in the line of duty from Baldwin County were read by agency reprentatives, followed by the laying of the wreath at the memorial led by Mack and the Baldwin County police chiefs in attendance.

Those officers include:

Alabama Troopers, read by Stan Stabler, retired secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency:

  • Joe F. Partin, patrolman Alabama Highway Patrol, July 25, 1960.
  • Riley D. Smith, corporal, Alabama Highway Patrol, Dec. 17, 1971.
  • Larry D. Cawyer, corporal, Alabama Highway Patrol, May 25, 1985.
  • Coy Smith, lietenant, Alabama Public Service Commission, June 28, 1994.

Baldwin County Sheriff’s Deputies, ready by Sheriff Huey Hoss Mack:

  • Abram S. Johnson, December 1881.
  • James R. Stewart, April 1895.
  • Howard E. Dutton, Oct. 1, 1987.
  • Scott J. Ward, November 2012.

Local law enforcement, read by their police chiefs:

  • Joseph F. Smith, town marshall, Aug. 10, 1910, read by Bay Minette Police Chief Al Tolbert.
  • Michael D. Stockwell, Orange Beach Police Department, September 2013, read by Chief Steve Brown.
  • Charles Kerry Mitchem, Loxley Police Department, December 2015, read by Chief Chip Cason.

May is set aside each year to honor fallen peace officers with National Peace Officers Memorial Day in the nation’s capital.

“While I believe that event has been moved to October, we still wanted to keep this ceremony in May in order to honor those from Baldwin County who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” Mack said.