The Los Angeles Police Department is mourning the deaths of five officers who have died during the past couple of months, and has created a program to honor the memory of all fallen officers through special street signs that will be installed near the locations where the officers died, or the police stations at which they served.

The first of the memorial signs was recently installed in downtown Los Angeles. The installation process is slated to take several months. (photo courtesy of LADOT)

The first of the signs went up last week at the corner of 2nd and Main streets in downtown Los Angeles in honor of Officer Edward Wilhoit, who was killed in the line of duty on Aug. 20, 1924. Bruce Gillman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, said the street signs will be installed at locations throughout Los Angeles, and the project should be complete within six months.

The street sign program was initiated by Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander, 12th District, in conjunction with LAPD Commander Richard Webb, of the LAPD’s Office of Administrative Services. The officials were looking for a tangible way to recognize fallen officers and to share their stories with the public. Once the project is completed, people will be able to use a number on each of the signs to go to a website with information about each officer. Although the website is still being created, authorities wanted to begin the process of installing the signs.

“There are heroes, and then there are superheroes, and those who have sacrificed themselves to protect us are superheroes,” Englander said. “It’s going to be a virtual memorial.”

Webb added that Englander helped guide the project through the “red tape” at city hall, and said the signs are a fitting tribute to the officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. They are being funded by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, a nonprofit organization that supports the LAPD.

“The idea was to put the signs up at or near where the officers were killed as a reminder to people walking by so they will know there was a sacrifice made there,” Webb said. “They will make it so everybody will be aware that somebody has paid a very heavy price. It will show the officers and show the public that we don’t forget.”

Webb said the initial project calls for 209 signs for officers killed in the line of duty dating back to 1907, and additional signs will be created as needed going forward. Signs for Hollywood Division officer Nicholas Lee and Valley Traffic Division motorcycle officer Christopher Cortijo – who were killed during the last two months in separate traffic collisions — were unveiled last Thursday at an annual ceremony paying tribute to deceased members of the LAPD. Plans call for a sign to be created for Harbor Division officer Roberto Sanchez, who was killed on May 3 by a suspect who rammed his patrol car.

Capt. Eric Davis, commanding officer for the LAPD’s Wilshire Division, said the signs will illustrate the challenges officers face in their everyday jobs.

“From my personal perspective, I’ve had friends who have died in the line of duty, and you reflect and think about that sacrifice those officers made,” Davis said. “What better tribute to acknowledge them and their service to the community.”

Eight officers from the Wilshire Division were killed in the line of duty between 1958 and 1996, the last year an officer from the station was killed, according to Sgt. Alex Chogyoji. Capt. Tina Nieto, commanding officer of the LAPD’s Olympic Division, said five officers were killed in the line of duty in the Olympic area between 1921 and 1997. Although the Olympic Division is a new station that opened in 2008, the fallen officers worked at the former University Police Station. In the Hollywood area, eight officers have been killed in the line of duty between 1936 and 2014. Lee was killed when a truck struck his patrol car on March 7.

Nieto added that the memorial signs are personal to her because in 1997 she responded to a traffic collision in which a colleague — officer Van Derrick Johnson — was killed near the corner of 8th Street and Gramercy Place.

“That brings tears to my eyes,” Nieto said. “I think it is a fitting tribute, and I think it is an idea we should have thought about years before. Sometimes we give up our lives to protect the rights of others.”

The LAPD painstakingly researched records of each officer’s death to create the signs and corresponding website, and learned that many of the older records were incomplete or inaccurate.

The reports on some of the early deaths listed the locations as rail yards or traffic collisions, without specifying exactly where the officers died. Some of the names and dates were also incorrect. Authorities consulted with family members and reviewed news reports and records from the Los Angeles Police Museum to verify locations where the signs will be installed. In instances where the location of an officer’s death could not be determined, and for officers who were also members of the military and were killed in combat outside the country, the memorial signs will be installed near a police station, the LAPD Academy in Elysian Park, or the LAPD Administration Building downtown.

“We traced each and every step. They had to live and relive each of these tragedies,” Englander added. “Hats off to Commander Webb and everyone who participated in this program. It’s a fitting tribute because those who have fallen for us should be remembered.”