SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida law enforcement agency held a ceremony in honor of its brothers and sisters in blue who died of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, the Broward Sheriff’s Office held a touching tribute to the men and women they lost to the virus.
The agency, consisting of over 5,800 employees, has been hit hard in regards to losing members of its community due to COVID.
Those who lost their lives to the virus were honored at a ceremony at Faith Center in Sunrise.
A 21-gun salute and a riderless horse were part of the event.
Below are the names of the nine victims who BSO paid tribute to:
- Deputy Shannon Bennett
- Nikima Thompson
- Wiley Huff
- Lt. Aldemar Rengifo Jr.
- Pamela Ford
- Stephen Adams
- Sgt. Shane Owens
- Edwin Sanchez
- Tasha Blackwood
Loved ones of the victims received an American Flag that was used during the ceremony.
Sheriff Gregory Tony said when you’re in charge of an agency so big, you don’t always get the chance to meet everybody, but he was proud to say he met several of the ones who tragically lost their lives.
“We didn’t lose but one or two or three, we lost nine,” he said. “For every single time that we had to return into our facility, in our respective responsibilities to do our job, we pass these members in our hallway. We set up the illustrations that you see behind me, and there was a specific reason behind that. We didn’t want to forget them, and we didn’t want to forget what our responsibilities were to this community.”
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