Reno officer's name added to memorial wall

Fallen Reno Police Officer Michael Scofield was honored Tuesday by law enforcement officers from across the state during the Nevada Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Ceremony.

"This year we again respectfully and sadly add another name to the wall," P. Michael Murphy told a crowd gathered on the Capitol Grounds at the site of a memorial depicting a peace officer cradling in his arms a mortally wounded comrade.

The names of 99 officers, the year they died and the agency for which they worked are etched into the granite Nevada-shaped portion of the memorial dedicated in 1998.

Scofield was the 99th peace officer to have died in the line of duty since 1861, Murphy said. Scofield died Sept. 26 when his motorcycle was struck by a car as he was responding to a motor vehicle accident.

His sister-in-law Darcy Smith accepted a baton from Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong containing the names of Scofield and the other 98 officers who have died. The baton was hand-carried during a 400-mile, 99-leg run from Las Vegas to Carson City. Scofield's wife and four children were attending the national ceremony in Washington, D.C.

"On this very solemn occasion I am sadly reminded this is the second year that we've gathered to remember another Reno PD officer that has fallen," said Gov. Kenny Guinn. "Hopefully there will be no more to come, but we know the realities of this world."

Last year's ceremony honored slain Reno police officer John Bohach who was shot during a standoff in 2001.

Carolyn Sullivan, wife of slain University of Nevada, Reno police Sgt. George Sullivan, told the crowd the ceremony was a time to celebrate all of law enforcement.

"On this granite stone there are far too many names," she said.

Sgt. Sullivan was brutally murdered in a hatchet attack in 1998 while making a traffic stop near the university gates. His body was found in the early morning hours of Jan. 13, 1998.

Sullivan's wife said when she sees the memorial, she often wonders if that's how "it must have been for George," held "by the people who loved him."

Hundreds of peace officers from across the state pay their way to Carson City to attend the ceremony.

The ceremony is held in conjunction with National Police Week.