ISP Post In Peru Holds Annual Memorial Service
Press Release
PERU — An inscription on the memorial stone in front of the Indiana State Police Peru Post reads, “We Will Remember Them.”
That promise was kept when local law enforcement officers, retired state police employees, local government officials and family members of the fallen joined employees from the ISP Peru Post as they paid tribute to the 47 ISP employees who have died in the line of duty since the department’s inception in 1933.
Since the early days of the ISP, memorial services have been held at all ISP Posts during the month of May. The memorial services are a way of paying tribute and remembering the ultimate sacrifice paid by state police employees who died while serving and protecting the citizens and visitors of Indiana. The services are also for the family members of the fallen heroes. The memorial services let the families of the fallen know that the sacrifice made by them and their departed loved ones will never be forgotten.
On Tuesday, May 11, a service started with troopers standing at attention as Captain Jeremy Kelly, Area I commander for the ISP, read a roll call of the fallen employees. Lieutenant T.J. Zeiser, commander of the ISP Peru Post, provided a brief description of what led to the fallen employees’ final call. The solemn ceremony ended with the playing of Taps by a bugler.
Four troopers from the ISP Peru Post have died in the line of duty:
- Sergeant Glen R. Hosier died April 26, 1971, of a gunshot wound he received while leading officers up the staircase of a Miami County home. He was attempting to arrest a murder suspect.
- Trooper Robert J. Lather II died July 6, 1982, in an automobile crash on US 31 in Miami County. He was assisting the Howard County Sheriff’s Department in pursuit of a traffic violator.
- Master Trooper Detective David E. Rich died July 5, 2007, of a gunshot wound he received when a motorist he stopped to assist opened fire on him as he approached a disabled vehicle on US 24 in Wabash County.
- Trooper Daniel R. Barrett died Jan. 27, 2008, while attempting to catch a speeding vehicle on US 31 in northern Fulton County. His police car left the roadway and hit a tree, killing Barrett instantly.