With Memorial Day approaching, several local law enforcement officers, officials and supporters laid fresh wreaths down on at the Etowah County Law Enforcement Memorial on the grounds of the Etowah County Courthouse on May 15 to honor local officers who fell in the line of duty.
The names of fallen officers from Etowah County inscribed on the memorial were D.J. Kinney, Gadsden Police Department, 1888; J.N. Holsonback, U.S. Deputy Marshall, 1902; Pink Jenkins, Attalla Police Department, 1903; Ernest W. Birt, Etowah County Sheriff’s Department, 1911; William A. Patterson, Alabama City Police Department, 1912; Henry Ingram, Attalla Police Department, 1923; John O’Bryen, Etowah County Sheriff’s Department, 1929; John O. Johnson, Etowah County Sheriff’s Department, 1931; Charles Gordon Cox, Gadsden Police Department, 1942; Arvil O. Hudson, Alabama State Trooper, 1952; Charles Cook, Etowah County Sheriff’s Department, 1952; Grover “Ned” Pearce, Attalla Police Department, 1955; Richard Revere Perkins, Gadsden Police Department, 1958; Irvin C.L. Starling, Attalla Police Department, 1975; Ormand Franklin Watkins, Alabama State Trooper, 1971; Jimmy Ray McKiven, Gadsden Police Department, 1983; Chris McCurley, Etowah County Sheriff’s Department, 1997; and John S. Starratt, U.S. Department of Justice, 2001.