Joint Honor Guard stand in front of the monument honoring the fallen officers from Hancock County during Sunday’s Peace Officer Memorial Day Service. May 7, 2023.
GREENFIELD — Former Hancock County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy Tom Harrison will never forget the day his boss, Capt. Malcolm E. Grass, was shot and killed in the line of duty May 8, 1986.
Grass had just called Harrison the day before the shooting to warn Harrison that a dangerous man who law enforcement was looking for was in the area, armed and could pose a problem. Grass wanted Harrison, a man he hired on as a deputy in 1976, and his deputies to be careful during an upcoming third shift.
“And then it was Malcolm who ended up getting shot, and I can tell you that passing — it’s still very difficult,” Harrison said. “I worked for the department for 43 years and I carried a little bit of Malcolm with me every day, and I still do even in retirement.”
Harrison was among approximately 50 former and current law enforcement officials who gathered with county and city leaders as well as the families of fallen officers Sunday afternoon at the Hancock County Fraternal Order of Police, 400 E Davis Road, Greenfield, to celebrate Grass and the lives of two other officers lost in the line of duty.
Corporal Dannie R. Garrison, HCSD, died of a heart attack on Jan. 1, 2000 and Patrolman William E. Phillips III, Greenfield Police Department, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while on bike patrol training in Henry County, Sept. 30, 2010.
“This is just what we do,” Harrison said of the Peach Officer Memorial Service Day. “We’re a brother and sisterhood, we are family and this is the right way to show respect.”
The half-hour ceremony paid tribute to the three fallen heroes and their families to remind them the community will never forget the officers’ sacrifices or service. Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week is an observance in the United States that pays tribute to the local, state and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty.
Mayor Chuck Fewell, a former law enforcement officer, spoke during the memorial and called the ceremony bittersweet.
“You want to celebrate and remember the officers, yet there is heartache for the families and departments who have lost members,” Fewell said. “The guys and gals go out every day and put their life on the line with the hope they get to come back home to be with their families, but they don’t know when they walk out the door if they are coming back.”
Hancock County Commissioner Bill Spalding, who is a former Indiana State Police officer, also spoke during the ceremony, Spalding noted that the law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty are not forgotten and the ceremony shows that.
Major Robert Campbell of the HCSD shared Garrison’s biography with the crowd and then brought forth the presentation of the Memorial Wreath, placing it near the memorial at the front of the FOP during the outdoor ceremony. Prior to the event, he said holding this type of ceremony once a year is the proper way to honor fallen officers in the county.
“They paid the ultimate sacrifice, losing their lives in the line of duty,” Campbell said. “The families are still here and are still dealing with sorrow and that is never going to change, so this is our way to honor them so they know as time goes by their loved ones are not forgotten.”
Deputy Chief Charles McMichael of the GPD said his department organizes the ceremony each year. He then shared Phillips’ biography with the crowd and fought back tears when he told what happened to Phillips the day he died while training.
“This ceremony is about showing the families, most importantly, that the sacrifices they’ve made don’t go unnoticed,” McMichael said. “We’re pushing 40 years since Capt. Grass’s ‘End of the Watch Day,’ but seeing the families here with other officers who show their respect shows we have not forgotten.”
New Palestine Police Department officer Tyler Batton is the FOP Lodge #140 President and led the ceremony, which included the posting of the colors by the Joint Honor Guard.
Batton reminded the crowd that, in 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week. Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, 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.
Calvary Baptist Church pastor Roger Kinion serves as the chaplain for both the HCSD and the GPD and noted it’s good for law enforcement officials to reflect and share peaceful moments to honor officers who have died in the line of duty.
“As a local pastor, it’s a real privilege to be involved in this kind of ceremony,” Kinion said. “I didn’t know any of the men who died in the line of duty being honored, but I’ve met some of the family members, and we live in an area that is unique in that we still support our law enforcement officers.”
One of Grass’s sons, Kerry Grass, spoke at the ceremony and shared the survivor’s message. He said while Monday, May 8 does mark 37 years since he lost his father, sometimes it feels like yesterday.
“It’s pretty hard to comprehend how much time has actually passed,” he said.
Kerry Grass noted how important it is for families to gather and celebrate the lost lives because that’s the only way to make sure the good in what law enforcement officers do lives on.
“We will not let darkness win,” Kerry Grass said.
Sixty-four officers were shot and killed in the line of duty in 2022, according to a preliminary annual report released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
