GPD holds 23rd annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service
BY BRUCE BRANUM
The Greenville Standard
The Greenville Police Department (GPD) recently honored the sacrifices of local law enforcement at its 23rd annual memorial service.
The service was held Wednesday, June 8, at the Lurleen B.Wallace Community College Wendell Mitchell Center in Greenville.
After a welcome by Greenville Police Chief Justin Lovvorn, Southside pastor Brother Herbert Brown gave the invocation and was followed by Kaylee Russell who presented a special song to those in attendance.
Next, District Attorney Charlotte Tesmer for Butler, Crenshaw and Lowndes Counties and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall gave opening remarks
Afterwards, Chief Lovvorn and Butler County Sheriff Danny Bond gave remembrances of fallen officers.
For Greenville, the fallen officers remembered were George Bryan (June 15, 1904), Bill Daniel (1916), Joseph Herring (Sept. 21, 1968), and Gary Wayne Heath (June 14, 1994).
For the Butler County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), the fallen officers remembered were William Henry Bargainer (Dec. 10, 1892), Charles D. Sims (1931), John Thomas Sanders, Sr. (May 3, 1939), and John Timothy Williamson (Oct. 23, 2014).
Chief Lovvorn then presented the Gary Wayne Heath Education award to Sgt. Randall Adkison. Adkison has served five years with the GPD.
The keynote speaker for this year’s event was City of Ozark Police Chief Charles Ward. Ward has served with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) as a state trooper and also as a colonel with the agency as director of public safety.
In addition to recognizing officers who made the ultimate sacrifice, the ceremony recognized and honored the current service of the GPD and BCSO officers and deputies.
Chief Lovvorn presented the Officer of the Year award to Sgt. Chad Herring, who has nine years of service with the department.
Sheriff Bond recognized Andy Sutley as Deputy of the Year. Sutley has been in law enforcement for 23 years and is currently assigned to the Drug Interdiction Unit.
