"We Can Be Victims of Crime:" Deputies Attend Slain Officers' Funerals

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When a fellow law enforcement officer is killed on the job, it hits home for Cherokee Sheriff’s Office deputy David Wooldridge.

That’s why he did not hesitate when his superiors asked if anyone within the agency would like to attend the funeral of two officers in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who were killed last week in the line of duty.

“I said I would be honored to represent the county,” Wooldridge added.

These six deputies with the sheriff’s office’s Motor Unit on Wednesday made the trip across the Deep South to take part in the funeral processions for Hattiesburg Police Department officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate.

Both men were shot dead during a traffic stop over the weekend, according to CNN. Five suspects have been arrested in connection to the fatal shootings, the national news station reported.

The deputies spent Wednesday morning loading their trailer with their respective motorcycles and made the roughly six-hour drive to the southern Mississippi city.

Sheriff’s office Lt. Gene Peluso, deputy director of training and commander of the motor unit, said it’s imperative for those who put their lives on the line to protect and serve the public to pay homage to those same individuals when their lives are taken.

“We all have to support one another as law enforcement officers across the county, especially with the times we are going through right now,” he said. “It’s an honor to pay tribute to other officers.”

Along with Peluso and Wooldridge, other deputies who are in Hattiesburg are Capt. Bill Smith, Sgt. Charlie Brown and deputies Zach Luna and Jeff Goettel.

Officer Deen was laid to rest on Thursday while Tate will be buried on Saturday, WLBT states. According to USA Today, Deen, 34, was with Hattiesburg police for six years and also was a K-9 officer. Tate, 25, was a 2014 graduate of police academy.

It’s not the first time Cherokee sheriff’s deputies have left the state to attend the memorial services for a fallen officer.

The unit in January traveled to New York City to attend the funerals of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, who were both fatally shot while sitting in their patrol car.

Peluso states taking part in a procession can be “a bit overwhelming.”

“You tend to get choked up a little,” he said, adding it’s amazing how the community rallies around officers when one of their own dies.

That’s part of the mission behind National Police Week, which was created in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy when he proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar in which that day falls as National Police Week.

National Police Week “pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others,” according to its website. In Washington, D.C., the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial features a list of law enforcement personnel whose lives were lost while on duty.

Wooldridge, who has been with the sheriff’s office for three years, said he hopes the deaths of these officers — and their quest to show their support and gratitude — will communicate to the public the dangers they face each and every day.

When an officer suits up and prepares to embark on his shift, any fatal incident can make that shift the last one the officer serves.

“All police officers are human,” he said. “We bleed red and can be victims of crime...while we are protecting others. We put our lives on the line. When officers are killed, it hits home.”

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Photos: Deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office’s Motor Unit load up and secure their motorcycles before they hit the road to Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Credits: Kristal Dixon