Garden Grove Police Memorial
Click HERE to watch the Garden Grove Police Department’s 37th Annual “Call to Duty” live stream on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Live coverage of the memorial is brought to you by the award-winning Garden Grove TV3.
On Thursday, May 16, 2024, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., the Garden Grove Police Department’s 37th Annual “Call to Duty” Memorial will honor the six Garden Grove police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. The event will be held in front of the Garden Grove Police Headquarters, located at 11301 Acacia Parkway. Click here for more information.
Message from the Chief
Welcome to the Garden Grove Police Department’s Memorial webpage. Since 2008, I have proudly stood beside the men and women in law enforcement who form the GGPD. The department is made up of individuals who take an oath to protect and serve their community, with a profound sense of duty and sacrifice. The Garden Grove officers who lost their lives in the line of duty gave the ultimate sacrifice for the community they served. Their legacy inspires those who choose this profession, and their passion and commitment to duty, above all, remains timeless and forever etched in our memories and hearts.
Chief Amir El-Farra
Our Fallen Officers
Police Memorial History
Since 1987, family, friends, colleagues, elected officials, and law enforcement members across California have joined the community in honoring the lives and sacrifices of Garden Grove’s fallen.
The inaugural ceremony, in 1987, mourned the tragic losses of four officers—Myron Trapp, Andy Reese, Donald Reed, and Michael Rainford. The fifth, Howard Dallies, would end his watch six years later.
To memorialize the Department’s four heroes, brass plaques were placed in front of newly-planted trees near the Police Department. Following Howard Dallies’ loss in 1993, about 300 attendees gathered in Garden Grove’s Plaza of the Flags to dedicate a new plaque in his honor.
In 1999, a life-size bronze statue of an officer on one knee, with his head down, a folded flag in one hand, and his face shielded by his other hand, was completed and dedicated as the “Call to Duty” Police Memorial. Five plaques surrounded the memorial, bearing the likeliness of each officer who selflessly gave his life in the service of his calling.
Ten years later, the memorial offered the first public viewing of the 22 Freeway sign, “Garden Grove Police Officers Memorial Highway.”
The year 2012 marked a 25-year milestone for the memorial that was dedicated to the youth of our community.
In 2013, the Memorial Bell was introduced to the program, rung once following each of the “Fallen Five’s”* names and end of watch.
In 2017, a Fallen Five* Video presentation was introduced. This enabled everyone the opportunity to get to know these five heroes on a more personal level.
In 2022, the sixth memorial plaque was added to the Call to Duty police monument in honor of Lieutenant John Reynolds and was unveiled to those in attendance at the Garden Grove Police Department Call to Duty Memorial.
*The “Fallen Five” was a reference to the five Garden Grove police officers lost in the line of duty before the passing of Lieutenant John Reynolds in 2021, who became the sixth officer lost in the line of duty.
Call to Duty Memorial
The annual Garden Grove Police Department “Call to Duty” Memorial honors the Garden Grove police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty; Sergeant Myron L. Trapp, Officer Andy Reese, Officer Donald F. Reed, Officer Michael Rainford, Master Officer Howard Dallies Jr., and Lieutenant John Reynolds.
The memorial features a flag-folding ceremony, memorial bell ringing, helicopter fly-over, and a 21-gun salute.
The annual service is open to the public and the community is invited to show their support for the Garden Grove Police Department and the families of the fallen officers by attending the memorial.