Representatives from the Summerville Police Department were honored to attend the 2023 Public Safety Memorial Ceremony held in Forsyth, GA last Friday. This ceremony included the revealing of engraving of 24 additional names on the granite memorial of public safety personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty in Georgia. Of these 24 who were memorialized, 17 were from the years 2021-2022 while the remaining 7 were past honorees.

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During this ceremony, fallen Summerville Police Night Chief E.H. Dalton, who died in the line of duty on March 31, 1939, was memorialized on the granite monument. Night Chief Dalton was fatally assaulted while attempting to arrest an offender. According to an article from the time in the Summerville News, Dalton was struck with a fist and elbowed resulting in his sudden death.
Although the Summerville City Council recognized Chief Dalton’s sacrifice in 1939 through a resolution that was published and provided to his surviving family, at the time there was no statewide level of recognition for fallen public safety officers. In 1997 the State of Georgia created the Public Safety Memorial to memorialize those public servants who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect their communities.
E.H. Dalton’s granddaughter, Vickie Dalton Breedlove of Jacksonville, FL, was able to attend this year’s Public Safety Memorial Ceremony where her grandfather was honored. Mrs. Breedlove, along with other families who lost a family member in a line of duty death, were individually presented with a medal and citation from Governor Brian Kemp during a solemn service honoring their sacrifices.
Although Night Chief Dalton’s sacrifice was 84 years ago and it was recognized at a local level, Chief Harold Tucker and his staff felt that not honoring him in every way possible would be a disservice. The Public Safety Memorial, being in the courtyard of Georgia’s main police academy campus, is the perfect place for his name to be inscribed alongside other heroes who died trying to keep their communities safe.
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