California’s law enforcement community gathered near the state Capitol on Monday to hold a sober ceremony enrolling new names of fallen officers on the California Peace Officers’ Memorial.
This year’s ceremony remembered 12 officers who died in the line of duty in 2025, including Marysville Police Department Officer Osmar Rodarte, who was slain on March 26, 2025, while helping execute a search warrant.
Also honored was Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul W. DeRouen, who died on March 29, 2008, from injuries sustained 22 years earlier. DeRouen was six-year veteran of the department in 1986 when he was hit by vehicle while attempting to subdue a suspect on the side of an Elk Grove road in the fog. His left leg and part of his left hip were amputated.
“It is painful to hear the names of our fallen, because they are not just names to us – they are our family, they are our friends,” said keynote speaker Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna, whose department lost three deputies in a training facility explosion last year.
“They represent all that is good, brave, and honorable in our profession, and they remind us of what is sometimes the overwhelming cost.”
The 11 honored peace officers who died in the line of duty in 2025:
Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Timothy B. Corlew
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Hector Cuevas, Jr.
Baldwin Park Police Officer Samuel S. Riveros
Los Angeles Police Sgt. Shiou Lih Deng
California Department of Corrections parole agent Joshua L. Byrd
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Joshua R. Kelley-Eklund
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Victor M. Lemus
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective William C. Osborn
La Mesa Police Officer Lauren A. Craven
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Nunez
Alhambra Police Officer Alec J. Sanders
The ceremony concluded with a 21-gun salute and playing of “Taps.”
The Bee’s Hector Amezcua contributed to this story.
Gov. Gavin Newsom places the American flag on the monument to fallen officers during the annual California Peace Officers’ Memorial enrollment ceremony in Sacramento on Monday.
(HECTOR AMEZCUA/hamezcua@sacbee.com)
Gov. Gavin Newsom is escorted by California Highway Patrol Commissioner Sean Duryee, left, and California Peace Officers’ Memorial Foundation President Juan Viramontes during the 48th annual California Peace Officers’ Memorial enrollment ceremony in Sacramento on Monday.
(HECTOR AMEZCUA/hamezcua@sacbee.com)
Retiring Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester, right, marches with her interim replacement Zachary Bales to the annual California Peace Officers’ Memorial enrollment ceremony in Sacramento on Monday. Lester will retire on May 15.
(HECTOR AMEZCUA/hamezcua@sacbee.com)