Sheriff Howard to Speak During Police Memorial Day at UPB

Erie County (N.Y.) Sheriff Tim Howard will speak at the Police Memorial Day service at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford May 15.

The service, which is co-sponsored by the Bucktail Lodge #96 and the William Hanley Sr. Lodge #67 of the Fraternal Order of Police, will take place at 1 p.m. in the Bromeley Family Theater in Blaisdell Hall.

The service is open to the public and will feature a color guard; Howard and other speakers, including Dr. Livingston Alexander, president of Pitt-Bradford, and members of the clergy; a video tribute to officers who died in the line of duty in Pennsylvania in the last year; and a 21-gun salute.

As part of the service, wreaths will be laid at a plaque commemorating three local officers who have died in the line of duty in the past 22 years – Sgt. David Distrola, Bradford; Patrolman Steven Jerman, Kane; and Patrolman Carl Whippo, Johnsonburg.

A luncheon will follow in the KOA Dining Hall in the Frame-Westerberg Commons.

Howard is a 37-year veteran of law enforcement and has been sheriff of Erie County since 2005. Previously he served as the undersheriff of Erie County and for 24 years with the New York State Police, rising through the ranks of trooper, sergeant, investigator, lieutenant, captain, major and inspector.

He holds a master’s degree in criminal justice and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Howard is a recipient of the Brummer Award, the highest award for heroism given by the New York State Police, as a result of his actions during a 1982 domestic dispute in which his partner, Trooper Gary Kubasiak, was shot and killed.

He has served in various assignments across the state, including Buffalo, Long Island, the Adirondacks and the Southern Tier.

In 1998, Howard was the recipient of the Erie County Law Enforcement Award. He received a New York State Legislative Proclamation for his work with school violence and also received the NYSP Superintendent’s Unit Citation for his leadership role in the search for a missing girl, Sara Ann Wood, in the Adirondacks. He has taught extensively at the State Police Academy in Albany and in the Criminal Justice Program at the Rochester Institute of Technology.