Officer Robert E. Hooper

I was the dispatcher on the radio when Officer Hooper was shot and killed. He called the code 33 as he chased the vehicle but his radio was breaking and it was very hard to copy his transmissions. Eventually, he gave the C4, vehicle lost in the area. A few minutes later, Officer Hooper called another code 33. saying that he’d located the vehicle he’d chased earlier parked in front of a residence—and I tried to copy him as best as I could but he was breaking so badly that most of what he said was a garbled mess. The last broadcast he made to me, which was also barely discernible, he said something about what “garbage” the equipment was that our Department issued. Not too long after that, the Taraval Sgt. (I believe his name was Sgt. Kazarian) called a 406, two Officers had been shot and requested an ambulance code 3. Officer Hooper didn’t make it, the second Officer recovered from his wounds. To this day, I feel responsible for Officer Hooper’s death. If only I could’ve copied what he was saying, maybe it would’ve changed the course of action he took. I’m retired now but during the next 28 years when I would go to work, every time I passed the wall listing the names of all the SFPD Officers who were killed in the line of duty, I could not look at the spot where Officer Hooper’s name was memorialized. I am sorry Officer Hooper. Rest In Peace HERO.

Chryse Grecousis Hawes
SFPD

April 3, 2019