CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, with the Okaloosa County Public Works Department’s help, are recognizing the first Okaloosa law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty.
A sign has been placed off Okaloosa Lane east of Crestview, near the site where OCSO Sheriff John Summerlin was killed Jan. 21, 1921. A train hit the vehicle he was driving, and three passengers were also killed.
OCSO Deputy Pat Jenkins was researching the 100-year-old agency when he came across information that helped lead to this recognition of Summerlin, who had been in office only 11 days before the accident.
The efforts of Jenkins, Sheriff Larry Ashley, the Northwest Florida Daily News, Baker Block Museum and Crestview FOP — along with numerous citizens — helped ensure Summerlin’s name has also now been added to the State Law Enforcement Memorial in Tallahassee and National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.
It will also be engraved at the OCSO Memorial at Shalimar Headquarters.
The new sign reads, in part, “May this marker serve as a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice he paid to the citizens of Okaloosa County.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview area sign recognizes Okaloosa sheriff killed in duty