By Mary O’KEEFE

The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Dept. and the community is mourning the loss of Dep. Dennis Gill and his 14-year-old daughter who were involved in a fatal car accident while vacationing in Oregon.

On July 25 the deputy and his daughter, along with Gill’s 11-year-old son, were involved in a traffic collision. His son survived the accident, according to an LASD statement. 

Dep. Gill had been with LASD since 2000. He served in many areas including at the Crescenta Valley Station from 2014-19.

CVW was on hand in September 2011 at a luncheon honoring LASD and Montrose Search and Rescue members. Members recounted their response to a call for help at Camp 16 in the Angeles National Forest during the Station Fire in 2009. Dep. Gill was at the North County Correctional Facility and West Hollywood Station at the time and was part of the response team to Camp 16 on Aug. 30, 2009.

His wife, Louise, was in the luncheon audience. She had known her husband had responded to the Station Fire and followed all information available about where the fire was being fought; however, she had not known he had responded to Camp 16 until after he returned from the camp.

“I think if everyone just went on a ride-along with a [member of the sheriff’s department] they would understand how difficult and important his or her job is,” she told CVW at the time.

In 2015 Dep. Gill was one of four LASD law enforcement members recognized by the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce. He was part of the Crime Suppression Team that had been deployed to concentrate on residential neighborhoods that had seen an increase in burglaries. The team’s job included outreach to advise and encourage residents to report suspicious activity. The team was successful and made several arrests relating to residential and business burglaries. Through compliance checks of those on probation or parole they were able to make several other arrests concerning identity theft, narcotics and weapons violations.

“Because of these four men’s efforts, there has been a dramatic reduction in burglaries in the area,” stated Lisa Dupuy, who was the CVCOC executive director at the time.

Dep. Gill left CV Sheriff Station prior to Capt. Todd Deeds arriving but there are several at CV Station who knew him well.

“He was well-liked by everyone,” Deeds stated.

“Dennis was regarded as a compassionate, professional, helpful and respectful person who was about providing public service with nothing in return. Dep. Gill was an outstanding person with eagerness to work and go above and beyond for anyone without any hesitation.

“Today, the department is suffering from a tremendous loss. Our hearts go out to the family, friends and loved ones of Dep. Gill. We lost a great partner, friend and a public servant. Department personnel are with the family offering support during this challenging time as we work through this tragedy,” according to an LASD statement.

Dep. Gill is survived by his wife and son.

  CVCOC, Mary Okeefe