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Mission Moment – May 2022

NICHOLAS GALINGER

May Mission Moment

Officer Nicholas Galinger

Chattanooga, Tennessee Police Department

End of Watch February 24, 2019

Police Officer Nicholas Galinger was struck and killed by a vehicle in the 2900 block of Hamill Road at 11:00 pm, on February 24, 2019.

He was checking a manhole cover that had water overflowing from it when he was struck. Officer Galinger was transported to a local hospital where he died a short time later.

The driver of the vehicle vehicle fled the scene after striking him. The driver turned herself in two days later after being added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Top 10 Most Wanted List. She was charged with vehicular homicide. On September 25th, 2021, she was convicted of vehicular homicide by intoxication and seven other counts related to the crash. She was subsequently sentenced to 11 years in prison on February 7th, 2022.

Officer Galinger had just graduated from the police academy in January 2019 and was in field training at the time he was struck. He is survived by his son, daughter, parents, two sisters, two brothers, two grandmothers, and other relatives.

Officer Galinger’s death helped inspire and pass Tennessee House Bill 1834 which has now passed the Tennessee House and Senate and is awaiting the Governor’s signature.  See below.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Gray News) – A bill in Tennessee passed the Senate that will require a person to pay child support if they kill a parent and are convicted of vehicular homicide due to intoxication.  Tennessee lawmakers unanimously passed House Bill 1834 on Wednesday. The bill was also amended to include the names of fallen police officer Nicholas Galinger’s children.

Galinger was a Chattanooga police officer when he was struck and killed in February 2019 by a woman, Janet Hinds, who was driving while intoxicated, officials said.  The 38-year-old rookie officer was inspecting a manhole cover that had water flowing from it that evening when Hinds hit him with her car and fled, according to the Associated Press.

Hinds was found guilty earlier this year in the fatal hit-and-run and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

According to the house bill summary, if a defendant is convicted of vehicular homicide due to intoxication or aggravated vehicular homicide and the victim of the offense was the parent of a minor child, then the sentencing court must order the defendant to pay restitution in the form of child maintenance to each of the victim’s children until each child reaches 18 years of age and has graduated from high school.

Editor’s note:  Many of you have probably heard about Bentley’s Law or had a similar bill introduced in your state.  Five more states were recently added to the list.  This is truly a grassroots effort, and if it has not come to your state, it probably will soon.

Background: Bentley’s Law was started by Cecilia Williams of Missouri, who came up with the idea for the bill after her son Cordell, his fiancée Lacey and their 4-month-old son Cordell II were killed by an alleged drunk driver (case has not been adjudicated). Bentley is the oldest of Cordell and Lacey’s two surviving sons. MADD Missouri is providing tremendous support to Cecilia and her family.

Cecilia is the driving force behind the introduction of these bills, which call for an offender who kills a parent to pay child support for the surviving children. We want to honor and support her advocacy. It is important to her that as each state introduces legislation, “Bentley’s Law” is either the name or part of the name. Her goal is for every state to pass this bill, and her firm belief that name recognition is essential to reaching that goal.

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Guest Author – May 2022

National Peace Officers Memorial Day

By: Ron Replogle

MADD National Law Enforcement Initiatives Manager

As many of you know, today is National Peace Officers Memorial Day.  Thousands of law enforcement officers and their families are gathered in our Nation’s Capital to honor the fallen officers and to add the names of the 2021 fallen officers to the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.  2021 was the deadliest year on record for fallen officers with 616 reported deaths (Officer Down Memorial Page).  Already this year there have been 99 reported line of duty deaths.  All time there have been 25,754 line of duty deaths.

Below is the Enactment and Joint Resolution from the 87th Congress of the United States of America and signed by President John F. Kennedy on October 1, 1962, designing today as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and this week as Police Week.  The words in this joint resolution from 1962 have never been truer and more appropriate than they are today.

MADD’s relationship with the local, regional, state, and federal law enforcement communities is critical to MADD’s mission. You keep our communities and roadways safe. In doing so, you put yourselves in danger daily – and some pay the ultimate price. Forty-four percent of the officers killed in the line of duty last year were killed in traffic crashes. That is why MADD supports you, our heroes, who keep us safe.

Since its founding in 1980, MADD has supported and worked closely with the law enforcement community to further its mission and create a world of NO MORE VICTIMS.

We thank you for your selfless service and wish you the best in health and safety in the remaining years of your career.

Stay safe out there!!

Enactment

The holiday was created on October 1, 1962, when Congress authorized the president to designate May 15 to honor peace officers. John F. Kennedy signed the bill into law on October 1, 1962. The proclamation signed by President Kennedy read:[5]

87th Congress of the United States of America

Joint Resolution 76 Stat. 676.

To authorize the President to proclaim May 15 of each year as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week of each year during which such May 15 occurs as Police Week.

Whereas the police officers of America have worked devotedly and selflessly on behalf of the people of this Nation, regardless of the peril or hazard to themselves; and

Whereas these officers have safeguarded the lives and property of their fellow Americans; and

Whereas by the enforcement of our laws, these same officers have given our country internal freedom from fear of the violence and civil disorder that is presently affecting other nations;

Whereas these men and women by their patriotic service and their dedicated efforts have earned the gratitude of the Republic: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is authorized and requested to issue proclamations (1) designating May 15 of each year as Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of the Federal, State, and municipal officers who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty, (2) directing the officials of the Government to display at half-staff the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on such day, as provided by section 3(m) of the Act of June 22, 1942 (Chapter 435; 56 Stat. 377; 36 U. S. C. 175), (3) designating in each year the calendar week during which such May 15 occurs as Police Week, in recognition of the service given by the men and women who, night and day, stand guard in our midst to protect us through enforcement of our laws, and (4) inviting the governments of the States and communities and the people of the United States to observe such day and week with appropriate ceremonies and activities, including the display at half-staff of the flag of the United States.

Approved October 1, 1962.

To pay tribute to the law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and to voice our appreciation for all those who currently serve on the front lines of the battle against crime, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved October 1, 1962 (75 Stat.676), has authorized and requested the President to designate May 15 of each year as “Peace Officers Memorial Day,” and the week in which it falls as “National Police Week” and by Public Law 103-322 (36 U.S.C. 175) has requested that the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers’ Memorial Day.

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Officer of the Month – May 2022

MADD May 2022 Officer of the Month

The 616 Officers who made the Ultimate Sacrifice and gave their lives in the line of duty protecting America in 2021.

“It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived.”

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed Public Law 87-726 designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week.  While the actual date changes from year to year, National Police week is always the calendar week, beginning on Sunday, which includes May 15. This year National Police week is May 15-21, 2022.

In honor of 2022 National Police Week and Law Enforcement Memorial Day, MADD honors, as its May 2022 Officer of the Month, the 616 law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice and died in the line of duty in 2021.  We honor the fallen and their families, and we are grateful for the sacrifices they made to keep our communities safe.

Unfortunately, 2021 was the deadliest year on record for officer line of duty deaths.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is centered in the 400 block of E Street, NW, Washington, DC and is the nation’s monument to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. Dedicated on October 15, 1991, the Memorial honors federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety and protection of our nation and its people.

The Memorial features two curving, 304-foot-long blue-gray marble walls. Carved on these walls are the names of more than 22,000 officers who died in the line of duty throughout U.S. history, dating back to the first known death in 1786. Unlike many other memorials in Washington, DC, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is ever-changing: new names of fallen officers are added to the monument each spring, in conjunction with National Police Week.

“It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived.” Vivian Eney Cross, Survivor

“The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1

“Carved on these walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream.” President George H.W. Bush

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) (along with Concerns of Police Survivors, the Fraternal Order of Police and the FOP Auxiliary) is a principal organizer of National Police Week, the annual tribute to law enforcement service and sacrifice that is held each May in Washington, DC.

This year, hundreds of names will be engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC, which will bring the total to 25,747 officers killed in the line of duty since 1776 memorialized there.

The NLEOMF will host a Virtual Candlelight Vigil on May 13 at 8:00 p.m. to memorialize those who sacrificed all for their communities. National Police Week in-person events will be held May 11-21, 2022, in Washington, DC.

To see a full listing and the stories of the 616 law enforcement heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting American Citizens in 2021, click on the link below.

Law Enforcement Line of Duty Deaths in 2021 (odmp.org)

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MADD extends our deepest condolences to the agencies and families who have lost officers and loved ones in the line of duty

For a complete listing of Officers lost in the line of duty, please visit: www.odmp.org

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