In Memory of Campaign

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

“Where’s my son…” Words I’ll never forgot… I asked her “Who’s your son?” to which she replied, “Austin.” I then asked her, “Who are you?” and she replied, “I’m Melissa, his mother.” I looked in her eyes, and with as much empathy as I could muster, I told her, “I’m so sorry, Austin was killed in a crash.” The In Memory of Campaign started after the Chesterfield County Police Department’s fatal crash team worked a wreck on June 10, 2020. The tragedy of that fatal crash was not any different than most others, with families impacted, loves ones lost, and stress on officers, but our officers took that night and for some reason wanted to make a change, perhaps prevent another fatality, even just one would be worth the effort. So, with permission from families of several fatal crashes we started to work out ways to highlight the loss, humanize it and publicize it all in hope that we can create discussion to slow down, don’t drink and drive, or wear a seatbelt.