Today, the men and
women of the Redwood City Police Department will honor the sacrifice made 36
years ago by Sergeant George Garrett who was killed in the line of duty. All
ranks of sworn officers will be out on patrol, working the Detective Bureau,
and running every operation in the organization in their Class "A"
uniforms to honor the End of Watch (EOW) anniversary of Sergeant Garrett's
death. The flags in front of our building will be flown at half-staff and all
of our shifts will be briefed by Command Staff sharing the story of Sergeant
Garrett’s death.
Thank you Sergeant
George Garrett for your service and sacrifice--you will not be forgotten.
Your Redwood City
Police Family
Sergeant George Leon
Garrett, Jr.
Badge #5
Tour of Duty: 1973 –
May 8, 1981
On Friday, May 8,
1981, at 12:04 PM, Redwood City Dispatch received a phone call advising of a
possible bomb threat inside Bank of America located at 110 California Street.
The call was followed by silent alarm activation two minutes later. Four plain
clothes officers from the Vice/Intelligence/Narcotics unit responded to the
bank from the police department which was then located at 1020 Middlefield
Road. Sergeant George Garrett arrived first and entered the bank through the
Winklebleck Street doors. Business appeared to be normal. Detective Dale
Switzer arrived in another car with Detective Ron Brooks and the driver,
Detective Robert Peele. Detective Switzer went in the El Camino doors followed
seconds later by Detective Brooks. Detective Peele parked the car and notified
dispatch of their arrival. The bank was crowded with customers. Sergeant
Garrett walked to the desk of the branch manager, Sylvia Harris, where another
man was sitting. Garrett put his hand on the man’s shoulder, asked him how he
was doing, and the man immediately pulled a gun from his waistband. As he did
so, Garrett reached across the desk and pushed Miss Harris out of the line of
fire as he was reaching for his own gun. The man jumped up and shot Garrett
once between the eyes and once in the chest. The suspect started to walk away
as Switzer ran toward him. Switzer and Brooks opened fire on the suspect with
Switzer killing him. As the shots rang out, Peele entered the bank from El
Camino side and was told by Brooks to summon an ambulance. As Peele ran out the
Winklebleck side doors (detectives did not have portable radios at that time),
he was mistaken for a suspect and shot twice in the arm by patrol officers who
had responded to the bank.
The funeral for
Sergeant Garrett was attended by 1,400 guests, most of which were police
officers in full dress uniform. He was buried at Skyline Memorial Park. He was
portrayed as a hero who took the time to shove a bank employee out of the line
of fire before turning to face the robber. He was praised for his extensive
work with the community’s youth, having given narcotics presentations to
various school and public groups on his own time.
The suspect was
identified as Raleigh Porsche, age 36. Porsche was an ex-convict released in a
Mexican prisoner exchange program. He was later connected to two other bank
robberies.
Sergeant Garrett is
the only officer murdered in the line of duty in the department’s history.
Thirty nine years old, Garrett was survived by his wife, who was eight months
pregnant with their first child. Nineteen days after his murder, his daughter
Nicole was born. In July 1981, city officials dedicated George L. Garrett
Junior Memorial Park in his honor. On this date, May 8th, the thirty sixth anniversary
of his death, we remember and honor our Brother Officer, George Garrett.
