County Council adopts plan to create King County Sheriff Deputy’s memorial

A bench on 15th NE in North City honors the service
of Deputy Mark Brown of the Shoreline Police
who died responding to a call

Fifteen members of the King County Sheriff’s Office have been killed in the line of duty since the department was established with the creation of the County in 1852. There is no memorial within the County honoring those deputies who died protecting their fellow citizens. On April 8, 2013 the Metropolitan King County Council gave its unanimous support to a study that will look at creating a memorial to recognize fallen deputies within the King County Courthouse.

Included on this list is Shoreline Police Deputy Mark Brown, who died in 1999 in North City, while responding to a call.

Deputy Mark W. Brown 

February 27, 1999 

On February 25, 1999, motorcycle Deputy Mark W. Brown, responded to a silent bank alarm. While en route, he was involved in a traffic accident. Two days later, Deputy Brown, "Sam 25,"  went out of service.

The sheriff's office is King County’s first and longest serving law enforcement agency. The first sheriff deputy killed in the line of duty was in 1853, the most recent was in 2006. All fifteen deputies are recognized both in Washington, D.C. as part of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and in Olympia, where they are listed on the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial. But there is no memorial in the county where the deputies lost their lives.

“I am pleased to support the creation of a permanent memorial honoring our County’s fallen deputies,” said Councilmember Rod Dembowski. “I recall attending the memorial service for Deputy Sam Hicks in 1982 in Renton and am pleased that King County is going to formally and properly honor all of our county’s deputies who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”

The adopted ordinance calls on the Executive and the King County Sheriff to develop a proposal for the creation of a memorial recognizing fallen King County Sheriff deputies within the Courthouse. The proposal should include where the memorial will be located, a method to solicit designs for the display, and the proposed schedule, budget and potential funding sources for its construction.

The proposed ordinance calls for the Executive and Sheriff to submit their proposal to the County Council by June 1.

More information on the 15 King County Sheriff Deputies killed in the line of duty.