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LAPD cops remember fallen colleagues
LAPD officers line up to honor fellow cops who died in the line of duty during the department's annual memorial service for fallen officers.
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Frank Stoltze/KPCC
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A member of the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society attends the LAPD's annual memorial honoring officers who have died in the line of duty.
(
Frank Stoltze/KPCC
)
Listen
3:07
LAPD cops remember fallen colleagues
LAPD cops remember fallen colleagues
The Los Angeles Police Department Thursday held its annual memorial for officers who died in the line of duty. Top brass and officers gathered outside police headquarters.
One mourner at the memorial was Jim Cullins. A roadside bomb in Afghanistan killed his 28-year-old son Joshua – an LAPD cop and a U.S. Marine – last October.
“Josh was quite a funny, humble, well-loved guy. And as a father, I couldn’t be any prouder.”
Joshua Cullins was the latest of 204 LAPD officers killed in the line of duty since 1907. That count includes officers who died during military service.
Cullins’ father said the death of Osama bin Laden this week gave him a sense of satisfaction. “Yes, it did because nobody that should have anything to do with that – no matter if you’re top or the bottom – should be able to get away with that. And I think the resolve it’s that it lets them know that no matter how long, how far, we’ll get ya.”
The LAPD ceremony also paid special tribute to SWAT Officer R.J. Cottle; he was also killed last year in Afghanistan, where he served as a U.S. Marine.
Audio: Captain John Incontro is a veteran LAPD cop who heads the department's elite Metropolitan Division. In an interview with KPCC’s Frank Stoltze, he recalled one of the many colleagues he’s lost fighting crime in the city of the angels.
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