In the summer of 1915, San Diego police Sgt. Oliver Hopkins, one day removed from his promotion, was killed in the line of duty while attempting to pull over a delivery truck on his motorcycle.
Twelve years later, in the spring of 1927, SDPD Det. Charles Harris was killed in Balboa Park during an operation intended to apprehend a serial robber.
On Thursday afternoon, decades after the officers lost their lives, they were awarded the San Diego Police Department’s Police Cross with their descendants, some of whom traveled from out of state, in attendance.
“Each one of us that wears this uniform, wears this badge, we spend the vast majority of our life serving,” Chief Scott Wahl said Thursday during a ceremony held at department headquarters, “and when we give the ultimate sacrifice, to know that your memory will never be forgotten is a very important thing that we value in this organization.”
Wahl presented gathered families with a folded American flag and the Police Cross awarded to officers killed in the line of duty.
Hopkins, an Illinois native born in 1870, was personally recruited to the San Diego Police Department by then-Chief J. Keno Wilson, Lt. Travis Easter recounted on Thursday. Hopkins joined the department in 1911 and was promoted to a motorcycle officer before being promoted to sergeant on July 1, 1915.
On July 2, Hopkins attempted to pull over a truck that was speeding and driving recklessly on what is now Imperial Avenue.
The truck struck Hopkins, whose motorcycle became lodged in the truck’s fender, Easter said. Hopkins was dragged for a city block before he was thrown to the ground. He was transported to a sanitarium where he succumbed to his injuries.
The truck driver, believed to have been drunk, was arrested by Chief Wilson himself.
Hopkins was survived by his wife and three children, one of whom was the father of Shirlee Smith who attended the ceremony after traveling from her home in Arizona along with her husband.
“My father was only five (when Hopkins died) so it was just stories,” Smith said. “We had a photograph of him standing next to his motorcycle, a 1915 Excelsior…a bicycle on steroids with an engine, basically.”
But the family delved into Hopkins’ history and uncovered more information about their ancestor, including information about his time in Cuba during the Spanish-American War in the late 1890s.
A few months before Thursday’s ceremony, Smith’s sister received a phone call informing her that the San Diego Police Historical Association had been looking for Hopkins’ descendants since 2017.
“It was wonderful that he was recognized like this and that we were able to come,” she said.
Smith donated Hopkins’ police baton to the historical society.
Harris, an Arkansas native born in 1876, joined the department in 1911, eventually earning the rank of detective, Easter said.
On April 3, 1927, Harris took part in an operation targeting a “prolific robber” in Balboa Park, Easter said.
Harris and a police woman posed as a couple in the park and waited to be approached by the suspect. Another pair of officers did the same in a different section of the park.
According to Easter, Harris and his partner drove to an area behind Roosevelt Middle School and waited. Sometime after 8 p.m., Harris started the vehicle they were in and prepared to head back to police headquarters.
The officers were approached by the suspect, armed with a gun and flashlight, who said, “This is a stickup.”
In a deviation from the suspect’s usual pattern, Easter said, the suspect fired his gun at Harris, striking him at least twice. Harris fired back but was fatally wounded.
“He got me,” Harris said.
Police woman Marina Wright, Harris’ partner, drove the vehicle back to headquarters from the passenger seat, as she was unable to move Harris’ body.
A suspect in the case has never been identified.
Harris was survived by his wife and their 10-year-old niece whom the couple was raising.
Donna Morey, whose grandmother was the 10-year-old girl, accepted the cross and flag with her two daughters and grandson.
“I’ve always known something about Charlie, between my grandmother and my mother, and always been curious about what happened,” she said.
Through the San Diego Police Museum, the family learned bits and pieces of Harris’ story.
“I just think it is a special honor,” Morey said. “And I’m very I’m proud. I’m proud that he was a police officer.”
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