By Jorge Casuso

May 16, 2025 -- Ten Santa Monica police officers who died between May 1927 and August 2010 while on duty were remembered during National Police Week.

On Wednesday, which marked Peace Officers Memorial Day, the names of 345 fallen officers were added to the 24,000 names engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

In Santa Monica, the Police Department commemorated the local officers who died in the line of duty, beginning with the first, who was killed in a motorcycle accident nearly a century ago.

On May 17, 1927, Officer William Blackett, along with another motorcycle patrolman, "were pursuing a speeder on Pico near 23rd Street when his motorcycle crashed into an automobile ahead of him as it was turning a corner."

According to the Santa Monica Police Officers Association (SMPOA) Charity Fund webpage, "Another car passed between the speeder and police" and Officer Blackett "collided with the other vehicle."

Officer Blackett had served with the force for four years. He was 28.

Six and a half years later, on December 3, 1933, Sergeant Rolland C. Morton and Reserve Lieutenant Frederick C. Porter were killed in a airplane crash while en route to help victims of the Long Beach earthquake.

The epicenter was offshore, and the Police Chief had asked them to also "check on Santa Monica residents who were working at a Long Beach dredging company."

The Buhl CA-5 Airsedan took off in foggy conditions, encountered "an area of dense smoke and fog" and crashed near Baldwin Hills bursting into flames.

Sergeant Morton was 37 and had been with the force for 11 years. He was survived by his wife, three sons, parents and a brother. Lt. Porter was survived by his wife and two children.

On March 17, 1960, Officer David L. Kohler was on motorcycle patrol when a car pulled out in front of him at the intersection of Cloverfield Boulevard and Michigan Avenue.

Officer Kohler had served with the Santa Monica Police Department for four years when he was killed in the crash. He was 29. He was survived by his wife, three children and parents.

On November 3, 1965, Sergeant Ronald A. Wise arrived at an apartment at 2216 4th Street where an officer investigating a report of child abuse requested his help.

The responding officer had found "a badly bruised and semi-conscious 3-year-old child" and called Wise for help arresting the belligerent father, according to the SMPOA site.

"When Sergeant Wise arrived, the suspect shot him twice in the stomach. Other officers at the scene returned fire and wounded the subject, who was then arrested."

Sergeant Wise was taken to Santa Monica Hospital where he died from his wounds the next day. The child's father was convicted of second-degree murder and died seven years later in prison.

Sergeant Wise had served with the agency for nine years. He was 33. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

On April 20, 1969, Officer William L. Davidson was killed in a motorcycle crash in the Santa Monica Courthouse parking lot "while training a new officer on the operation of the department's three-wheeled motorcycles."

"He was leaving the parking lot when he struck a chain that had been strung across the entrance to Pico Boulevard." Officer Davidson had served with the Department for three years. He was 31 and was survived by his wife.

Officer Mitchell T. Kato, who died after a long battle with cancer, joined the Army in 1974 and served four years in the Armored Division before becoming a Santa Monica police officer in 1980.

During his 13 years on the force, Officer Kato worked assignments in "patrol, motors, mounted unit, vice, 3rd St Bikes and PAL (the Police Activities League)," according to the Police Department.

Officer Kato was a 3rd degree black belt in karate, an instructor in Kendo, a licensed pilot and "a first-rate photographer," who was described by his friends as "a genuine man."

"He used his fluency in Japanese in difficult times, helping patients in the emergency room and advocating for victims of crimes, coming in at any hour to translate."

His EOW, or "End of Watch," a termed used by law enforcement to mark an active officer's death, was December 9, 1998.

Officer Raymond G. Fenochio, along with officer Adam Barry, was awarded the Medal of Courage in 1999, two years before he died of leukemia, according to Inglewood Mayor and former SMPD Chief James T. Butts, Jr., who recruited Fenochio.

The medal was awarded to the two officers for risking their lives on August 18, 1998 to save a woman paralyzed with terror when she found herself in the shooting path of her suicidal boyfriend, according to a report in The Lookout.

Fearing the vulnerable woman would become a target of the distraught man, Fenochio picked her up and swept her to safety on his shoulders, as Barry provided safety cover. Officer Fenochio's End of Watch was April 17, 2001.

More than 1,000 mourners turned out for a solemn funeral service for Officer Ricardo "Rick" Crocker, a 10-year veteran of the force who was killed May 27, 2005 by a rocket-propelled grenade while on tour as Marine Corps reserve major in Iraq.

Crocker was given a military funeral at St. Monica's Catholic Church, where his flag-draped casket was given a 21-gun salute under an overcast sky. The flag was then slowly folded and given to his mother.

Crocker’s body was flown for burial at the National Cemetery in Puerto Rico, where he was given a full military ceremony. He was 39. He was survived by his mother Jeanette, father Curtis, sisters Marisa and Maria and brother Carlos.

A portion of the 10 Freeway in Santa Monica was dedicated in his honor. ("Officer Remembered as "Hero," June 3, 2005).

Officer Derek D. Morton was laid to rest on August 14, 2010 after a two-year battle with metastatic colon cancer. He was surrounded by his family when he died.

Officer Morton was promoted to the Vice and Narcotics Squad the year before his diagnosis, according to an obituary in the Santa Monica Mirror. After his first surgery and the beginning of his chemotherapy treatments, he returned to work for some nine months.

During the last years, he donated monthly to the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry to provide top-quality first-aid kits for its clients. He was 25 and was survived by his parents, Carol and Jim Morton, his brothers Dr. Keith Morton and Tory Morton and his sister, Willow Morton. He was 25.

"Their stories remind us of the risks officers take and the devotion it takes to serve," the Police Department wrote on a Facebook post Friday. "We carry their memory forward in every call, every shift, every act of service."