Remembering Johnson City’s Finest with Permanent Memorial

The Johnson City Village Board has approved the Johnson City Police Association’s plan for a memorial honoring the two sole police officers from the Johnson City department to have been killed in the line of duty.

Although there are almost 90 years separating the deaths of officers David W. Smith and Harold Huff, the two will be honored together by the $8,000 memorial set to be finished later this fall.

“It allows us to honor (them),” Patrolman Jody Kennedy told Pressconnects “They’re not here for us to say, ‘Good job. You guys did the best you could. You gave your life in the line of duty, which is the ultimate sacrifice for a police officer.’”

Smith, 43, died earlier this year while responding to a disturbance call outside Southern Tier Imaging, having been shot and killed by an employee while responding to a call at the Harrison Street facility in Johnson City.

Huff was killed in August 1925 when his patrol vehicle was hit by a train when he was responding to a report of a child being beaten by her father.

After such outstanding commitment to their communities and acts of bravery, it seems only fitting that these two heroes are honored for their service. The design has been set and now all that’s left to do is wait for the finished product.

We want to say thank you to both Smith and Huff as well as extend a thank you to the men and women currently serving on our local law enforcement teams! The Southern Tier really wouldn’t be the same without you!