The St. Petersburg Police Department held a solemn memorial at the Heroes of St. Pete Police and Fire Monument at Demons Landing Park where Police Chief Anthony Holloway and Mayor Ken Welch stood with city leaders to honor 15 officers killed in the line of duty. The ceremony on May 6, 2026 drew law enforcement from across the Tampa Bay area and families who keep those memories alive. The gathering was both local and deeply personal, a city paying tribute to names and sacrifices that stretch back more than a century.
The service began in the quiet of the morning and unfolded with the kind of precision and respect you’d expect from trained public servants remembering their own. Members of the police honor guard joined colleagues from neighboring agencies to present colors and to carry the weight of tradition forward. Attendees included uniformed officers, elected officials, and relatives who traveled to make sure those lives were not forgotten.
Chief Anthony Holloway and Mayor Ken Welch were visible throughout the event, moving among attendees and greeting families with firm handshakes and brief words of comfort. City council members and other civic leaders stood nearby as a reminder that public safety is a shared responsibility. The ceremony’s structure — speeches, honor guard, and moments of silence — emphasized respect over rhetoric and remembrance over movement.
“It’s very important because we want to make sure we remind families that we’re not going to forget about those 15 men who put their lives on the lives each and every day and again, those officers who put their uniforms on every day that we honor them. We respect them, we will always pay tribute to those who have gone before them,” Chief Holloway said. That line landed with the crowd; it was a direct promise that memory will be maintained and that the department sees memorials as obligations as much as ceremonies.
The 15 officers honored included:
- James J. Mitchell
- Edward A. George
- Wayne M. Barry
- Eugene W. Minor
- Frank A. Pike
- James W. Thornton
- William G. Newberry
- James J. Goodson
- Gene A. Bessette
- James A. Krupp
- Charles L. Eustes
- Herbert R. Sullivan
- Jeffrey A. Yaslowitz
- Thomas J. Baitinger
- David S. Crawford
The losses remembered at this service span from 1905 to 2011, a timeline that shows how law enforcement risk and community impact are not new problems. The three officer deaths in 2011 came from gunfire and mark the department’s deadliest year in modern memory. Those incidents remain part of the department’s institutional history and continue to inform training and policy choices.
Families brought photos, patches, and stories, and they were met with visible reverence from colleagues who knew the names and the circumstances behind them. For everyone there, the ceremony was a moment to pass memory to younger officers and to reaffirm why communities expect courage from those who wear the badge. The event also served as a reminder that honoring the fallen is a civic act that binds city leaders, public safety professionals, and citizens together.
After the formal program ended, small clusters lingered near the monument, trading recollections and catching up on lives shaped by service. The monument itself, set in a park space that locals know well, served as both a focal point for grief and a place to plant long-term remembrance. In St. Petersburg that day, the city paused to mark sacrifice and to publicly affirm that those 15 officers will not be left to fade from view.
