This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
For the first time in his 12-year career, Detective Andrew Pedersen got to present the name of his great-great-grandfather at the Salt Lake City Police Department's annual fallen officers tribute on Tuesday morning.
The ceremony was part of National Police Week. This year, the names of Salt Lake City police officers who had died either on duty or from injuries suffered on duty were read by officers of corresponding ranks — with the exception of Pedersen, who read the name and story of Andrew Burt, the only marshal (equivalent of today's police chief) killed on duty in SLCPD's history.
Burt was killed while looking for a suspect in downtown Salt Lake City in 1883. The man — who was wanted for allegedly threatening someone's life — shot and killed Burt.
Pedersen had known he was named after his great-great-grandfather, but it wasn't until he became a Salt Lake City police officer that his mother, Karen Pedersen, told him about Burt being killed as a marshal for the same department.
"It was very humbling," Pedersen said of reading Burt's story.
Officers read the names of 24 officers at the tribute. As each name was read, another officer put a carnation in a vase.
"Unfortunately, along this path, and in our profession, we lose great officers along the way," police Chief Mike Brown said.
The names read spanned from 1858, when Officer William Cooke was shot by a man who had demanded the release of an inmate, to 2003, when detective James Cawley was killed in Iraq.
Cawley was in the Marine Reserves and the police department has counted him among those who died in service.
All of the men were married. Most left behind children.
Special Officer Rollin Tanner is the most recent addition to the tribute, after Salt Lake Tribune columnist and former police officer Robert Kirby recently discovered his name. Tanner died of blood poisoning after being mauled by a lion in 1927.
"Decades will pass, centuries will evolve," said Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. "Yet rest assured, no one will be forgotten."
Twitter: @tiffany_mf Salt Lake City peace officers killed
• Officer William Cooke, shot in 1858 by a man demanding the release of an inmate.
• Marshal Andrew Hill Burt, shot in 1883 by a suspect who had earlier threatened someone else's life.
• Sgt. Alonso Wilson, shot in 1894 when a patrolman accidentally dropped a loaded pistol that discharged
• Officer Charles Ford, shot in 1908 by a man who had robbed a bar.
• Officer Charles Riley, was escorting two suspects to jail, when one shot him in 1909
• Sgt. John Johnston, stepped between a fighting couple during a domestic dispute and was shot in 1911
• Officer Thomas Griffiths, shot in 1913 by a man he had arrested for assault
• Detective Green Hamby, shot in 1921 by a burglary suspect
• Sgt. Nephi Pierce, died four months after being shot by an armed robbery suspect in 1923
• Officer David Crowther, shot by a transient and found in the Jordan River in 1923
• Officers Brigham Honey and William Huntsman, both shot in 1924 in a gun battle with men suspected of robbery
• Officer Gustave Lund, hit by a truck in 1924 while directing traffic
• Special Officer Rollin Tanner, died of blood poisoning after being mauled by a lion in 1927
• Officer Carl Carlson, killed by injuries suffered when a 50-gallon barrel of mash hit his foot and he hit his head during a liquor bust in 1929
• Officer Blaine Baxter, died in a motorcycle crash while pursuing a speeding car in 1935
• Sgt. Thomas Stroud, shot by his own pistol when he dropped it preparing for a department-sponsored children's part in 1951
• Detective Owen Farley, shot in 1954 by a robbery suspect he had arrested
• Officer Harold Peterson, Jr., killed riding his motorcycle in a traffic accident in 1954
• Detective Percy "Perc" Clark, shot in 1973 during a stakeout by a man who had robbed a pharmacy
• Detective David Olson, accidentally wounded in 1980
• Sgt. Ronald Heaps, shot in 1982 by a man wanted for murder when he responded to a report of a suspicious person.
• Officer Michael Dunman, hit by a car that jumped a curb while he was on bike patrol in 2000
• Sgt. James Faraone, killed in a traffic crash, when a pickup hit his parked car in 2001
• Detective James Cawley, killed in Iraq in 2003
Source: Salt Lake City Police Department