See California’s fallen peace officers honored in Sacramento ceremony
California’s law enforcement community gathered near the state Capitol on Monday to hold a sober ceremony enrolling new names of fallen officers on the California Peace Officers’ Memorial.
This year’s ceremony remembered 12 officers who died in the line of duty in 2025, including Marysville Police Department Officer Osmar Rodarte, who was slain on March 26, 2025, while helping execute a search warrant.
Also honored was Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul W. DeRouen, who died on March 29, 2008, from injuries sustained 22 years earlier. DeRouen was six-year veteran of the department in 1986 when he was hit by vehicle while attempting to subdue a suspect on the side of an Elk Grove road in the fog. His left leg and part of his left hip were amputated.
“It is painful to hear the names of our fallen, because they are not just names to us – they are our family, they are our friends,” said keynote speaker Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna, whose department lost three deputies in a training facility explosion last year.
“They represent all that is good, brave, and honorable in our profession, and they remind us of what is sometimes the overwhelming cost.”
The 11 honored peace officers who died in the line of duty in 2025:
- Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Timothy B. Corlew
- San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Hector Cuevas, Jr.
- Baldwin Park Police Officer Samuel S. Riveros
- Los Angeles Police Sgt. Shiou Lih Deng
- California Department of Corrections parole agent Joshua L. Byrd
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Joshua R. Kelley-Eklund
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Victor M. Lemus
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective William C. Osborn
- La Mesa Police Officer Lauren A. Craven
- San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Nunez
- Alhambra Police Officer Alec J. Sanders
The ceremony concluded with a 21-gun salute and playing of “Taps.”
The Bee’s Hector Amezcua contributed to this story.
This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 4:00 PM.
