Honoring Our Fallen

Each year in the April issue of Star & Shield magazine, PPOA honors and pays tribute to our California peace officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the previous year and who will be memorialized in May at national, state and local memorial services.

In 1962, President Kennedy signed a joint congressional resolution proclaiming May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week.

Three fallen peace officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) were submitted for inclusion in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. — located at Judiciary Square, adjacent to the National Law Enforcement Museum — where more than 24,400 names of officers who died in the line of duty throughout American history are engraved on its walls.

This May, three LASD Detectives will have their names engraved on the memorial wall, and also added to the California and Los Angeles peace officer memorial monuments:

• Detective Joshua Kelley-Eklund (EOW: July 18, 2025)
• Detective Victor Lemus (EOW: July 18, 2025)
• Detective William Osborn (EOW: July 18, 2025)

Shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Friday, July 18, 2025, an explosion occurred at the Department’s Biscailuz Regional Training Facility, where Detectives Kelley-Eklund, Lemus and Osborn lost their lives. The incident transpired in the parking lot of the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) at the facility. The Detectives were part of the prestigious LASD Arson and Explosives Detail. This incident tragically represents the largest loss of life for the LASD since 1857.

Detective Kelley-Eklund began his LASD career in March 2006, graduating from Academy Class #348. He worked nearly four years in Custody before transferring to Lennox Station. He was an outstanding Training Officer at South Los Angeles Station and was promoted to Detective at Narcotics Bureau in 2016. In 2022, he joined the SEB’s Arson and Explosives Detail, where he was a well-respected and highly knowledgeable Arson Investigator and Bomb Technician. Detective Kelley-Eklund is survived by his loving wife and their seven children.

Detective Lemus began his LASD career in July 2003, graduating from Academy Class #339. After his assignment at Twin Towers Correctional Facility, he transferred to Century Station, where his relentless work ethic led to assignments as a Senior Training Officer and Patrol Detective. In 2020, he was selected to serve in the elite SEB, contributing to both the K-9 unit and Arson and Explosives Detail. Detective Lemus is survived by his loving wife and their three children.

Detective Osborn began his LASD career in 1992, graduating from Academy Class #278. After his Men’s Central Jail assignment, he transferred to Pico Rivera Station in 1998 as a Patrol Deputy. He transferred to Industry Station in 2001, working patrol and then as a Detective for over a decade. In 2016, he transferred to Training Bureau as an Emergency Vehicle Operations Center Instructor. In 2019, he joined SEB as an Arson and Explosives Investigator, partnering with his explosives detection K-9, Kimber, and had recently become a member of the Dive Team. Detective Osborn is survived by his loving wife and their six children.

Since 1977, California has memorialized our state’s fallen heroes during the California Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremonies at the State Capitol in May. The annual Los Angeles County Memorial Ceremony is also held in May. It is PPOA’s hope that our members attend at least one of the following memorial ceremonies to publicly affirm that our fallen officers and the families they left behind will never be forgotten:

• May 3–4: California Peace Officers’ Memorial Candlelight Vigil and Enrollment Ceremony, Sacramento
• May 13: National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Fund Candlelight Vigil, National Mall, Washington, D.C.
• May 15: National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, West Front of the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.
• May 20: Los Angeles County Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony, Biscailuz Regional Training Center

This May, let us respectfully remember the brave men and women who died in the line of duty safeguarding our county, our state and our great nation. May we never forget those five words etched with the names of over 24,400 peace officers on the granite walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial: “In valor there is hope.”