GRAVETTE -- Shane Hargrave, of Gravette, has designed a unique tribute to all fallen police officers in Benton and Washington counties. He has taken his 1996 Nissan pickup and painted the names of all officers who died in the line of duty in both counties on the pickup bed cover. He calls the vehicle, "Low Enforcement."
Hargrave and his wife Jenny started work on the project in March and recently put it on display for the public. Hargrave, a co-organizer of the Gravette Cruise and Quarantine group, showcased the vehicle at the group's cruise night Saturday evening, Oct. 10. The pickup was parked in the parking lot at CV's Family Foods and many area citizens came by to view the exhibit.
Hargrave is a retired sheriff's deputy from Garfield County, Okla. He has served in several areas of law enforcement from 1995 to the present. He is presently a security officer at Ozarks Community Hospital. He and Jenny were on the square in Fayetteville just 20 minutes prior to Officer Stephen Carr's murder on December 7, 2019. His son works at the Fayetteville Police Department and had passed through the area just as his shift ended two hours earlier.
Hargrave said, "This event has had a great impact on us all." As a result, he and his wife researched as far back as 1881 and up until 2019 to compile a list of all fallen officers in the two counties. He sent out emails to all the departments who had lost officers to let them know what he was doing. He has received responses from many departments, including the Fayetteville Police Department, the Bentonville Police Department and the Arkansas State Police, all highly complimentary of his efforts to honor their comrades.
"The project is in its development stage as I continue to gain sponsors and support from the public," Hargrave said. "Our goal is to share this with my fellow officers and hopefully get this information out to the surviving family members, to let them know that their loved ones are not forgotten. It's the least we can do in these desperate times for all law enforcement officers."
Officers honored include Brian Batchelder, Bentonville PD; Lester K. Setser and Richard L. Duncan, Decatur PD; James H. Collins, Farmington PD; William D. Patton, Lem McPherson, Elmo O. Ritchie and Stephen P. Carr, Fayetteville PD; Will L. Dalton and Ed Allen, Rogers PD; John T. Hussey, Springdale PD; Paul H. Mueller, West Fork PD; Edward D. Rose, Richard S. Owen and Kenneth W. Holland, Benton County Sheriff's Office; John I. Mount, Casto C. Robertson and Roland P. Williamson, Washington County Sheriff's Office; and Dale W. Wallis, Arkansas Highway Patrol.