LUMBERTON — The names of two area law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty are now part of the National Peace Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Lumberton Police Department Capt. Terry Parker was present when the names of N.C. Highway Patrol Master Trooper Kevin Conner and Lumberton police Officer Jason Quick were called to be among the 163 fallen officers added to the memorial on Wednesday.

Conner, a Bladenboro native, was gunned down Oct. 17 on U.S. 701 by a man in a white GMC pickup truck that he pulled over for speeding. An arrest has been made in that case.

Quick was killed on Dec. 15 while working a traffic accident on Interstate 95.

Parker said that attending the ceremony was an emotional experience for him as he heard the names of two of his fellow officers called. He remembers Conner, a former Lumberton police officer, as a God-fearing man.

“He just had a smile that you’ll never forget,” he said.

Quick was a student in his Basic Law Enforcement Training class, Parker said, and joined the Lumberton Police Department in 2017.

Both men were married and with young children.

Lumberton Police Chief Michael McNeill, North Carolina Highway Patrol and Trooper John Scott also were in attendance. Also present were Miranda Conner, Trooper Conner’s widow, and Leah Quick, Officer Quick’s widow.

President Donald Trump spoke during the ceremony. He told family members in attendance that Americans stand by the loved ones of fallen officers and will continue to support “their brothers and sisters in blue.”

“Your loved ones were extraordinary and selfless Americans who gave everything they had in defense of our communities, our children and our nation,” Trump said. “… They wore blue because it was their duty, their calling, their noble purpose to serve, protect like nobody has ever done it before.”

Trump mentioned Conner by name this past fall at a rally in Charlotte, shortly after Conner’s death.

Chuck Canterbury, president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, said during the memorial service that he hopes the Protect and Serve Act of 2018 will soon become law.

The Protect and Serve Act of 2018, which was introduced into the House on May 8, 2018, is a bill that makes any attempt to deliberately target law enforcement officers with violence a federal crime. The legislation was received in the Senate that same year, read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. There has been no action on the legislation since.

On March 7, North Carolina lawmakers introduced legislation named Conner’s Law, which would increase the death benefit for survivors when lawmen are killed, and would move classification of assault by firearm on police officers from a Class E to a Class D felony. The legislation was approved by the full House of Representatives on March 20 by a vote of 119-0.

Rep. Brenden Jones, whose District 46 snakes into Robeson County, was a primary sponsor of the bill, which awaits action in the Senate.

“The bill is an act to increase the punishment for assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer, probation officer, or parole officer and to provide an additional death benefit for public safety employees who are murdered in the line of duty,” according to the N.C. General Assembly website.

Peace Officers Memorial Week has been observed annually since its inception in 1962.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 14 officers have been gunned down in 2019. Eighteen officers were killed by someone with intent to inflict serious injury or death in 2019, according to the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program.

Conner
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Conner.jpgConner

Quick
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_jason-quick-color_ne201923134043367.jpgQuick

Parker
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Parker-Terry.jpgParker

President Donald Trump spoke Wednesday during a ceremony at which 163 names were added to the National Peace Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. Two names of two area law enforcement officers, N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Conner and Lumberton police Officer Jason Quick, were among them.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_Memorial.jpgPresident Donald Trump spoke Wednesday during a ceremony at which 163 names were added to the National Peace Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. Two names of two area law enforcement officers, N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Conner and Lumberton police Officer Jason Quick, were among them.

By Jessica Horne

Staff writer

Reach Jessica Horne by phone at 910-416-5165 or via email at [email protected]