Wheeling Police Honor the Fallen During Solemn Ceremony

Members of the Wheeling Police Department's Honor Guard take part in the 11th annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Monday night at Heritage Port. (Photo by Eric Ayres)
WHEELING – National Police Week kicked off in Wheeling on Monday night with a solemn tribute to those in law enforcement who gave their lives to protect and serve their community.
The Wheeling Police Department held its 11th annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony at Heritage Port, where scores of people gathered to honor fallen officers who died in the line of duty over the decades. In the 218-year history of the Wheeling Police Department, nine officers lost their lives in the line of duty, and they are remembered each year during the ceremony.
Warm weather greeted the crowd as the sun set over the Ohio River and the police department honor guard posted the colors. Commander Richard Manning of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office provided poignant and patriotic musical selections, and Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger and members of his command staff took to the podium to explain the significance of National Police Week and the importance of remembering the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
“It is with great pride that we dedicate today’s ceremony to these brave officers who have given their lives in the line of duty,” said Deputy Chief William Noice. “We honor their sacrifices and their commitment to the communities they serve and to the United States of America.”
The Wheeling Police Department was established in 1806, making it the oldest department in the state, Noice said, noting that out of all the municipal police departments in West Virginia, the WPD is tied for having the most officers killed in the line of duty.
“In addition to the Wheeling PD’s nine fallen officers, tonight we also honor all men and women who lost their lives over the last 12 months,” Noice said. “Last year in the United States, 137 officers died in the line of duty.”

Deputy Chief William Noice addresses the crowd during the 11th annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Monday night at Heritage Port. (Photo by Eric Ayres)
Gunfire, vehicle crashes and medical illnesses have been the top causes of death for the nation’s fallen officers in 2023, Noice added, providing alarming statistics related to law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty. Additionally, a total of 25 police K9 partners also lost their lives while helping their handlers last year. So far this year, 58 officers in the country have died while on the job. Eight of those deaths have occurred in neighboring states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. In West Virginia, a total of 228 officers sacrificed their lives in the state’s history.
“Tonight, we honor one officer who died in the line of duty last year in our home state – W.Va. State Trooper Cory Maynard,” Noice said, noting that Sgt. Maynard was shot in an exchange of gunfire while on duty in Mingo County last year.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Daniel L. Board Jr., chief of staff for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Board has been in law enforcement for 30 years and previously worked on a county police force in Virginia alongside Schwertfeger, who said he considered Board a dear friend.
Board said he was on the path to go into the medical profession until another friend convinced him to consider police work. When he did, he never looked back, and he paved a storied career – one that because of the friendships and close relationships he’s made over the years, all changed suddenly in a gut-wrenching way.
“For 12 years, with undeniable purpose, passion and perseverance, I held a shield,” Board said of his initial years of working everything from armed robberies to murder investigations. “I knew I was where I needed to be. National Police Weeks would come and go, and although I participated in these events out of honor to the shield and honor to the profession, in retrospective reflection, I was merely going through the motions.”
That all changed for him on Aug. 21, 2006.
“I can tell you to this day where I was standing, where I was, who I was talking to and what we were saying,” he said, pausing in a well of emotion.
It was on that day that he learned his former partner, Eric Sutphin, was brutally murdered in Montgomery County, Virginia, during a manhunt for an escaped prisoner.
“Everything changed. My mindset changed,” Board said. “I was shaken to the core, and National Police Week would never be the same to me again.”

Keynote Speaker Daniel L. Board Jr., chief of staff of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, addresses the crowd during the Wheeling Police Department’s 11th annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Monday night at Heritage Port. (Photo by Eric Ayres)
The loss was devastating to Board, but it would not be the last. In the years that followed, he would lose three more friends that worked alongside him during his career.
“National Police Week became a neverending cycle of dread. A week of anger. A week of sadness and loss,” he said. “It was almost too much.”
Board said the sadness came to a head to a point when he finally decided to get help for the mental toll these losses have taken. He decided that the perpetrators of these horrible crimes would not have a residual power over him. Board said his fallen brothers would have “screamed” at him for wallowing in anger over their losses instead of remembering the good times they had and the meaningful work they performed together.
“Exactly six years ago today, I started my journey to regain that strength – to become an advocate and a fighter for both our profession and for those who need us most,” Board said. “For any man or woman who holds this shield, this week can be a grim reminder of the darkness that took our partners, our friends or anyone that holds the value system that we do.”
Board said he wished he had one more chance to tell his brothers that he loved them.
“I’m here to tell you that this is your chance,” he said. “Do it differently than I did.
“Do not let the uninformed dictate the narrative as to what this shield actually represents. Use Police Memorial Week as a reminder of how to keep fighting for justice, to tout the honor it is to hold this shield.”

The names of the Wheeling Police Department’s fallen officers and their “end of watch” are listed on a memorial board. (Photo by Eric Ayres)
Each year during Wheeling’s Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony, the families of the nine fallen officers from the city’s police force are invited. A handful of relatives for some of those officers typically attend.
Lynn Drowne of Wheeling has been one of those who has attended every year when she can. Her great-grandfather, Salavia C. “Lafe” Bowen, was among the fallen. He was killed while serving the city’s police force in 1902.
“Unfortunately, he was shot in the line of duty on Dec. 24 and died on Dec. 26,” said Drowne, a Wheeling native who had relocated to Florida but has since returned to the Friendly City and has attended the annual ceremony a number of times in the past. “This is wonderful. I am so glad that we do this every year. I come just to honor the family, but also my youngest son is a police officer. He’s a lieutenant with the Gwinnett County police department in Georgia. It’s so important that we have these ceremonies to remember our loved ones, but I don’t ever want to have to attend one for him.”
The honor guard performed a ceremonial laying of a wreath and gave a 21 gun salute to the fallen. Pastor Chris Figaretti gave the invocation and benediction. A bell was run after each name of Wheeling’s lost officers was read. They included John P. Brady, end of watch 1868; Joseph Glenn, 1888; Bowen, 1902; Henry Carl Seamon, 1917; Herman Henry Bartels, 1922; Ray Melvin Lazear, 1925; Charles Ulrich “Bud” Brunhaus, 1926; James Robert Worfe, 1931; and James Reiter Bailey, 1971.
“Martin Luther once said, ‘where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proven,'” Schwertfeger said. “That loyalty has been demonstrated by the fallen that we honor here today. Those who proudly pin this shield of protection on their chest demonstrate loyalty every day – loyalty to their communities, to their brothers and sisters and to their mission.”

Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger addresses the crowd during the 11th annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Monday night at Heritage Port. (Photo by Eric Ayres)