About ten years ago, I was involved in researching a piece on the history of criminal justice on the Lower Shore and came across some sketchy indicators that three Crisfield Police Officers had died in the line of duty. The number of line of duty deaths in such a small town surprised me so I decided to dig into this subject.\u00a0\u00a0The obvious sources, such as the National Law Enforcement and State Memorials,\u00a0did not list the fallen officers. So I traveled down to Somerset County for some fieldwork, since surely someone in the town would have information. But to my surprise, I came back empty-handed, even after a visit to the police department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that changed a few years ago after First Sgt. Stanley Harmon joined the Crisfield Police Department. Having recently retired from a law enforcement career in the Baltimore Metropolitan area, where he’d served in a variety of units, including homicide, the 50-something officer was interested in the history of his new department. While doing research to dig up the history of the agency, he too came across the names of Night Chief Daugherty, Chief Kirwin, and Policeman Daugherty, the officers that had fallen in the line of duty while maintaining peace in the Chesapeake Bay town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After making the discovery, he created a memorial at the Crisfield Police Station. Then he took on the task of getting these public servants listed on the Officer Down Memorial. He also sat out to get the men\u00a0added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial and that happened On May 13 during a candlelight vigil ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n