Detroit Street Memorials

Driving thru Detroit one sees many memorials to those lost too soon. Many are homemade ones for gunshot victims, or vehicle accident victims, which usually show signs of age within a few months. The dirty wet stuffed animals and deflated balloons remind others of a life lost and forgotten by many. A few years ago, I started to notice blue memorial plaques on the side of the roads I frequently drive in my city. As a cruising and people watching kinda person, I started stopping and reading them.These plaques were telling the end of watch stories of fallen officers, and I must say some of them peeked my interest and made me want to learn more. The turkeys, the riots, the car sideboards, and oh yeah…the cat…it was definitely the cat story that got me, so I needed to continue to learn more.

Plaques are being placed throughout Detroit by the Collin Rose Memorial Organization to “keep the memory of fallen officers alive”. Collin Rose was the first Wayne State University police officer to die in the line of duty back on November 23, 2016.

243 officers in Detroit have lost their lives in the line of duty. These are a few of their end of watch stories.