Public safety workers memorial movement underway

PORTSMOUTH

A movement is on to build a monument to local public safety workers who died in the line of duty.

The project is in the early planning stages, but organizer William H. "Bill" Kline Jr. envisions a memorial with three statues, one each for firefighters, police officers and sheriff's deputies.

The City Council embraced the idea this week with a resolution supporting in principle the use of public property for the monument, which is yet to be funded or designed.

Kline, a real estate agent and former First Citizen of Portsmouth, was moved to pursue a memorial after his family was honored in Philadelphia for his late brother, Jim.

Jim Kline was drafted out of the police force there and killed in Vietnam. He received the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously for rescuing six soldiers and trying to save more.

Bill Kline Jr., whose father and four other relatives also served with the Philadelphia Police Department, said the recognition is just as important for the families who suffered the loss.

"That's what just thrilled our family - when they showed how much they appreciate it," Kline said.

The Portsmouth Fallen Heroes Memorial Foundation will solicit private dollars when it is ready to begin fundraising. Members plan to meet next month to discuss ideas with a Minnesota company that specializes in statues to servicemen and women.

Brodin Studios builds life-size bronze statues that are true to the tiniest detail - even radio model numbers, said Portsmouth Police Capt. Garrett Shelton, who is helping with the project.

"It is specific to the agency and what equipment we use," Shelton said. "Even if we put a firefighter in turnout gear, it would be a Portsmouth firefighter in Portsmouth turnout gear."

Shelton said he has been working off and on for 10 years to put up a monument for his department's fallen members. Kline's efforts helped organize all the public safety agencies into a larger joint memorial, "which is, hands down, the best way to go with this thing," Shelton said.

The Portsmouth Police Department's Web site lists a Roll of Honor for 12 fallen members, the deaths dating to 1871. The most recent is Officer Richard L. Spaulding, who died of natural causes in 2005 while transporting a suspect after a vehicle pursuit.

In 2006, Deputy Charles A. Fisher became the first local sheriff's deputy to die in the line of duty. He was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident en route to a funeral procession escort.

Portsmouth Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services counts six fallen members, the last being Kirby M. Daniels in 1992.

Dave Forster, (757) 446-2627, dave.forster@pilotonline.com