OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Behind the Badge Foundation determines determined which fallen members of law enforcement to include on the state’s official memorial site.
The names of 341 officers who died in the line of duty in the state of Washington are on the monument. The names include officers killed by everything from gunfire, car crashes and other job-related injuries, to heart attacks and COVID-19.
Pierce County Deputy Daryl Shuey’s died in 2020 after suffering a heart attack removing trash from a stolen car, but his name is not on the wall. His death did not meet the Behind the Badge Foundation’s criteria for inclusion on the wall because it was not a result of strenuous work.
The foundation was created to build and maintain the memorial, as well as determining who is recognized.
“Those who are in charge of making a decision and voting, are voting with the mindset of what they believe a line of duty death should be,” said Karen Shuey, Daryl Shuey's wife.
“I don’t want any family to ever go through what my family has gone through,” said Karen Shuey.
She contacted her legislator, Rep. Spencer Hutchens, who proposed a law to establish a new committee made up of several law enforcement organizations to determine who should be honored on the wall.
House members heard testimony on House Bill 2442 Thursday.
Katie DeRosier’s husband, Cowlitz County Deputy Justin Derosier, was shot and killed while on duty in 2019. His name is on the memorial.
Katie DeRosier testified changing the selection process could threaten the “integrity” of the wall.
“Potentially compromising the sacrifices these heroes made. The perceived leniency of inclusion it offers jeopardizes the purpose of the memorial, a disservice to those already engraved in its surface,” said DeRosier.
Behind the Badge Executive Director Brian Johnston said the foundation has an appeal process for families who are left off the wall.
”When you are asking organizations to put a person from representing their organization on this committee, the question comes to you, are they going to be operating under the criteria, or are they going to be operating under the direction of their home organization?”
Rep. Hutchens said the bill does not call for changing any criteria for recognition.
Behind the Badge would still have a member on the new committee. Other organizations that would be included: the Washington State Fraternal Order of Police; the Washington Chapter of the Concerns of Police Survivors; the Washington Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association; the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs; and the Northwest Association of Tribal Officers.
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