Officer Down Memorial Page

Rest in Peace, Sergeant McLaughlin. Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Officer 11169
January 24, 2012

Your heroism and service is honored today, the 23rd anniversary of your death. Your memory lives and you continue to inspire. Thank you for your service. My cherished son Larry Lasater was a fellow police officer who was murdered in the the line of duty on April 24, 2005 while serving as a Pittsburg, CA police officer.

Time never diminishes respect. Your memory will always be honored and revered.

I pray for solace for all those who love and remember you for I know both the pain and pride are forever.

Phyllis Loya
Mom of fallen California Officer Larry Lasater, Pittsburg PD, eow 4/24/05
December 26, 2011

Mac,
It's 2011 now and and I think I'm getting sentimental more and more. There's so many memories that I could go into when we worked together in Adams County. You could chew someone out like no one I knew, then never hold it against them. I understood that it was just to make me a better cop. I recall you coming out to our plains area of the County to have coffee with me. Of course, you were really coming out to an isolated part of the County usually to blow up some type of explosive. I did win a bet with a 9News reporter because of you. I got a call of a seisographic charge North of Strasburg. I got on scene and requested that you respond. The reporter beat you there for some reason. The reporter said "I bet your bomb tech will walk right over and pick the charge up". I told the reporter: I'll do you one better in that he'll do it with a cigar in his mouth. Of course I won that one as you showed up on scene in the Ford van with "Flammable" and "Explosives" written all over it, got out with that always present cigar in your mouth and walked over to the charge and picked right up. Of course you moved it farther in the field and then "disposed" of it. We miss you and Rest in Peace. Mac.

Clint Tweden,Captain
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
March 25, 2011

Sergeant McLaughlin - Thanks for your service to both the people of Adams County and the State of Colorado. I stood in the State Assembly chambers, last Friday, when your name was read off during a resolution regarding the upcoming Peace Officer's memorial week. You, and the almost 250 others, are not forgotten.

May God grant you eternal rest and may His perpetual light shine upon you.

Chief K. Moreland (Ret. Sgt.)
Palmer Lake, CO PD (Ret. LAPD)
April 26, 2010

Christmas will never be the same, Mac. It's been 20 years but it seems every bit like it was just yesterday. I remember the ugliness of getting the phone call to investigate your murder, but more, I remember you. You were (maybe still are) a role model to many of the best cops I ever worked with. I remember your smile. I remember your highly polished tanker boots, your cigar, your gruff disposition, your "bullshit" stamp (for rejecting poorly written reports) and the other little things that made you "Mac." We miss you.

J.L. Jensen
June 16, 2009

I was an Adams County Explorer when Sgt. Mac was killed. I will never forget the meeting held after his death. There were many tears shed. It was examples like Sgt. Mac that caused me to continually pursue a career in this field.

Thank you Mac for your service.

Danny V. Sandoval, Police Officer
Brighon Police Department, Brighton CO
February 7, 2008

I had the privilage of working with Mac when I worked for Commerce City P.D. Our departments would assist each other on calls. He was a good cop, and great supervisor. If you needed backup, Mac would be there.I was working the night Mac was shot, it's hard to believe it's been almost 20 years.

Investigator Alan L Lewis
Ohio Department of Corrections
January 28, 2008

Rest in Peace brother, you are not forgotten.

Sgt. Jim May (ret)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Dept Charlotte, NC
January 18, 2008

You are remembered today and thank you Sir for your service

VanDEnBerghe
Manchester, NH
December 24, 2007

The Badge"
He starts his shift each day
To respond to calls unknown.
He drives a marked patrol car.
A police officer he is known.
He's paid by the citizens' taxes
To make it safe on the streets.
But he usually has a second job
'Cause a waitress has his salary beat.
Now he doesn't know a holiday
'Cause he works all year round.
And when Thanksgiving and Christmas finally arrive
At his home he cannot be found.
He's cursed and assaulted often,
The one whos blood runs blue.
He seldom ever gets a thanks,
To some he's just a fool.
His friends are always other cops
'Cause people just don't understand
That underneath his badge and gun,
He's just another man.
He knows there might not be a tomorrow
In this world of drugs and crime.
And he gets so mad at the court system
'Cause the crooks don't get any time.
And each day when he leaves for work,
He prays to God above.
Please bring me home after my shift
So I can see the ones I love.
But tonight he stops a speeding car,
He's alone down this ole' highway.
It's just a little traffic infraction.
He does it everyday.
Well, he walks up to the driver's window,
And his badge is shining bright.
He asked the guy for a driver's license,
When a shot rang through the night.
Yes, the bullet hit its mark,
Striking the officer in the chest.
But the Department's budget didn't buy
Each officer a bullet-proof vest.
So he lay on the ground bleeding.
His blood wasn't blue - His blood was red.
And briefly he thought of his loved ones
'Cause in a moment the officer was dead.
In the news they told the story
Of how this officer had died.
And some who listened cared less,
But those who loved him cried.
Well, they buried him in uniform
With his badge pinned on his chest.
He even had his revolver,
He died doing his best.
Written By:
David L. Bell
Sergeant
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Columbia, South Carolina
Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright © 1999 - All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission

Investigator David L Bell
Richland County Sheriff's Dept., Columbia, SC
September 24, 2007

God Speed, Brother.

P.O.K.Murphy
Union PD, NJ
June 7, 2007

I was with you that night. I still think of you often and I try to remeber all you taught me when I first made sergeant. I tell my young sergeants tales of our adventures at ACSO.
Thanks Mac.

Ron Grannis, Chief of Police
Fort Lupton Police Dept.
March 6, 2007

To the family, friends, and officers that knew Sgt McLaughlin, my thoughts and prayers are with you as you face the trying times ahead of you. Please know your not alone.

Here I am, lost in the light of the moon that comes through my window
Bathed in blue, the walls of my memory divide the thorns from the roses
It's you and the roses

Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow
Heal me from all this sorrow
As I let you go I will find my way when I see your eyes
Now I'm living in your afterglow

Here I am, lost in the ashes of time, but who wants tomorrow?
In between the longing to hold you again
I'm caught in your shadow, I'm losing control
My mind drifts away, we only have today

Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow
Heal me from all this sorrow
As I let you go I will find my way
I will sacrifice 'til the blinding day when I see your eyes
Now I'm living in your afterglow

When the veils are gone as I let you go, as I let you go

Touch me and I will follow in your afterglow
Heal me from all this sorrow
As I let you go I will find my way, I will sacrifice
Now I'm living in your afterglow

Bathed in blue, the walls of my memory divide the thorns from the roses
It's you who is closest

Erin
Wife of a CSPD Officer
October 16, 2006

My family knew SGT MAC he told me he was a gret man who cared for his communtiy and his department.

RIP SGT.

April 20, 2005

I first knew of 'Mac' while I was on a city dept. and he was a Sgt at ACSO. Years later I worked with him on ACSO. I was working the night he was murdered. He'd just come back to work after major heart surgery. Of course he came back to the street because that's where street cops work. Being an old time cop he had no use for ballistic vests and he was shot square in his new heart. He was the same age I am now when he died and now I'm a dinosaur as he was then. God is good and we live to serve and I'm proud to have served with him.

Corporal M. Piller
LCSO
July 13, 2004

I first knew of 'Mac' while I was on a city dept. and he was a Sgt at ACSO. Years later I worked with him on ACSO. I was working the night he was murdered. He'd just come back to work after major heart surgery. Of course he came back to the street because that's where street cops work. Being an old time cop he had no use for ballistic vests and he was shot square in his new heart. He was the same age I am now when he died and now I'm a dinosaur as he was then. God is good and we live to serve and I'm proud to have served with him.

Corporal M. Piller
LCSO
July 13, 2004