34 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JUNE 2017 by Jaclyn Barrientes T he grey clouds and cold mist fit the mood of the National Correctional Employees Week Wreath Laying Ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on May 6. Friends and family of area correctional employ- ees who had died in the line of duty came to pay their respects. Most of the local law enforcement departments were in attendance, includ- ing Fairfax (VA) County Sheriff’s Office, Alexandria (VA) Sheriff’s Office and Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correc- tional Services. Corrections Chiefs Com- mittee Chair Brandon Fos- ter greeted everyoneand reminded the guests of the importance to remember the impor- tant service and sacrifice m a d e b y correctional employees throughout the country. A special tribute was g i v e n f o r C o r p o r a l Priscilla Ma- rie Scott, of the Mont- g o m e r y (MD) Coun- ty Depart- ment of Cor- rection and Rehabilitation, who had passed away late last year after a battle with cancer. While not an officer who died in the line of duty, Cor- poral Scott played an impor- tant part in the coordination of the annual wreath laying ceremony and honor guard competition. Her devoted work to the remembrance of those corrections offi- cers who died was missed by those who worked with her. A single pink rose with a purple ribbon was placed on the medallion at the center of the Memorial in her honor. Memorial Fund President and CEO Craig W. Floyd shared the story of the first corrections officer to be killed in the line of duty. Missouri Department of Corrections Officer William Bullard was beaten to death with a hammer during a planned jailbreak from the Missouri State Prison. Eight convicts escaped, but his assailant was cap- tured. Before this year, the first known female officer killed was also the first female cor- rections employee killed in the line of duty. Anna Hart was a jail ma- tron at the Hamilton County (OH) Sheriff’s Office. She was killed on July 24, 1916, when walking through a section of the county jail, she encountered inmate Reuben Ellis, who had been hiding behind a curtain. El- lis struck Jail Matron Hart in the head with an iron bedpost, killing her. But last year, another female corrections officer was discovered through research who died on Sep- tember 27, 1906. Nellie Wicks, a correc- tions employee at the New York State Department of Corrections, was knocked unconscious and then stabbed with scissors by an inmate at the lavatory of the Matteawan State Hospital for Insane Criminals. Then Mr. Floyd read the names of the local Cor- rectional officers and dep- uty sheriffs, as well as the correctional officers from around the country whose names were recently added to the Memorial walls. Go to www.LawMemorial. org/Corrections to view the twenty-one officers. As each name was read, an officer laid an individual rose onto an officer’s hat at the center medallion of the Memorial. One by one, officers emerged into the rain, placed a rose and saluted for a moment, in remembrance of the officer. The names that were added to the Memorial this year represent agencies from around the country, including Guard George Joseph Turley, of the Cook County Jail (IL) who was killed on August 14, 1951. More recently was Mari Anne Johnson, a correc- tional officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, who died on July 16, 2016, after being attacked by an inmate. After the roll call, a wreath was laid at the center of the Memorial by Director Foster, Maryland Secretary of Public Safety and Cor- rectional Services Stephen Moyer and Loudoun Coun- ty Sheriff’s Officer Deputy Derick Davis. White doves were released as part of the ceremony. Jaclyn Barrientes is the Com- munications and Digital Media Manager at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Visit www.LawMemo- rial.org for more information about law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Remembering Corrections Remembering Corrections Officers During Police Week Officers During Police Week Memorial Fund President and CEO Craig W. Floyd honors our nation’s corrections officers and employees. There’s no tougher beat than policing behind prison walls I N T H E L I N E O F D U T Y t
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