By Mikaela STONE

A look back into history made this year’s Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony extra special as the Glendale Police Dept. acted on information gathered by department historian Teal Metts. While local law enforcement annually honors fallen officers from the past 109 years, this is the first year all four fallen officers have a photograph to commemorate them.

Metts’ research into the previously pictureless Marshal Charles Whitney Smith, who died in service of Glendale’s Tropico area in 1915, revealed Smith’s face in print via the article memorializing him. Also, the first of the area’s fallen law enforcement officers lay buried in an unmarked grave. Now, Smith’s story can be fully appreciated alongside the better-documented officers honored each year at the ceremony.

Marshal Charles Whitney Smith succumbed to his wounds after being shot by a member of a holdup team whose crime spree stretched across the Los Angeles County area. He left behind his wife Mae Gibson – whose name was unknown before Metts’ research.

In 1926, Officer Leslie O. Clem, a member of the motorcycle brigade, struck a set of streetcar tracks during a vehicle chase. He, too, died and was survived by his wife.

In 1972, Officer John Isaacson Jr. also perished in a vehicle chase, resulting in his being thrown out of his car. He is also remembered by his wife Sally and son John.

Officer Charles Lazzaretto, the final officer to die, died as a result of a shootout with a domestic violence suspect in 1997. His remembrance was read by his son, Andrew Lazzaretto. His father’s sacrifice steeled Lazzaretto’s resolve to become a member of the Glendale Police Dept., a salute to both of his parents who met through law enforcement as officer and dispatcher. Lazzaretto is “grateful to belong to an organization that keeps [his] father’s legacy.”

In opening remarks by Glendale Police Chief Manuel Cid, he acknowledged not only the lives of the officers given in the line of duty but also the families who had been deprived of their loved ones. He thanked them for their sacrifice.

To further honor Marshal Charles Whitney Smith, the Glendale Police Dept. posthumously named him a Glendale police officer and assigned him badge number 6, the next unassigned 1915 marshal badge number in Glendale. Metts unveiled Smith’s long-deserved grave marker, purchased with money fundraised from the department, and presented two artifacts for those assembled: an LA County coroner logbook containing Smith’s autopsy report (on loan from the LA County Sheriff Museum) and a Glendale police logbook entry discussing the events leading up to Smith’s death. These were accompanied by the booklets Metts wrote on Smith’s life and Metts’ own research. Of the collective effort put into ensuring Smith was properly honored, Metts noted that “everyone, from the chief down to the officers, including retired radio shop operators … civilian employees [and] retirees out of state” pitched in.

The GPD placed Smith’s grave marker in Forest Lawn later that day.