Meet your neighbor: Wayne Walton

Published 2:21 pm Friday, March 18, 2011

It was a mid-afternoon late last week, and Cpl. Wayne Walton of the Springville Police Department hadn’t had much rest.

The afternoon before, he’d attended the funeral of a Jemison police officer who was killed in the line of duty, then worked the night shift for the SPD.  He’d be on duty again that night but still hadn’t been to bed.  

Walton, though, seemed anything but exhausted as he spoke about his career in law enforcement and the volunteer work that is so important to him.

At the SPD:  After a 22 year stint in the U.S. Army, some of it spent as an MP, he celebrated 15 years with the Springville department on March 7.  He started his local law enforcement career at Argo and also serves as a member of the St. Clair County SWAT Team and assistant chief of the Davis Lake Fire Department.

How it started for him:  “I got into some trouble when I was little, and my dad knew all the Birmingham police officers.  I’ll never forget meeting Officer Bill Bates.  I was six years old, and I’d never seen a police officer before.  I remember his badge and his shoes and how shiny they were, and from that moment, it was all I ever wanted to do.”

Blue blood:  “My whole family is in law enforcement.  My brother, two cousins, and one niece are all police officers in St. Clair County.”

Walton’s special service:  He’s the only law enforcement officer in the eastern half of the state who serves with the Alabama State Fraternal Order of Police Honor Guard, which makes a yearly visit to the National Peace Officers Memorial Service in Washington, D.C.  The service, part of National Police Week, is highlighted by a candlelight vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.  This year’s event is scheduled for May 15-21.

Other honor guard functions:  Posting colors at funerals of fallen officers, ceremonies attended by the governor and state attorney general, the state FOP conference, and parades throughout Alabama.  “Anybody can call on the honor guard.  When I was in the military honor guard, I thought it was sharp, but this is really something else.”

At an officer’s funeral:  “The hearse follows the honor guard to the gravesite.  Then we’re walking with the pallbearers through two rows of police, carrying this officer to the grave.  There’s not a time I don’t do an honor guard funeral that I don’t cry.  There’s no way you can go to one of them and be stone-faced.  We go to funerals in the scorching heat, high winds, and freezing rain, but you block it out, and it doesn’t bother you.  You’re there for a reason.”

At Police Week:  The honor guard takes responsibility for families of fallen officers who attend the services in Washington.   Through his service with it, Walton has met President Barack Obama once and former President George W. Bush twice.  “We escort the survivors up to meet the president and to receive the Medal of Valor in honor of their family member.  We also take care of their transportation and whatever else they need or want to do while they’re there in Washington.”

About being at Police Week:  “The first year I was there, I walked around with my mouth open the whole time.  It was amazing.  There are thousands of officers there from all over the country, and husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters of officers killed in the line of duty, and it doesn’t matter if you’re from a small town like Springville or Los Angeles, you’ve come together to honor these people.  For the brotherhood and camaraderie of officers you’ll probably never seen again in your life and the privilege of representing those who have fallen and supporting their families, anyone in law enforcement who has never been needs to go to Police Week.”

On meeting the attorney general:  He met Eric Holder during Police Week last year.  “He’s a cool dude.  He got a standing ovation for a speech he gave about fallen officers.  He said, ‘I’m here to tell you thugs that if you want to hurt one of our officers, we’re coming to get you.’  He wasn’t playing.  People were up out of their seats cheering and hollering.”

Officers killed in the line of duty:  “We’ve lost 38 this year, one from Alabama.  That’s a lot.  In 2010, we lost 161 officers.  One hundred and sixty-one.  We do this for those guys right there.  We are the only country in the world that honors police officers killed in the line of duty.”

Supporting the FOP Honor Guard:  “If anyone would like to make a donation, they can make checks payable to Alabama FOP Honor Guard and drop them off at the Springville Police Department.”  Donations will be used to support families of fallen officers attending the memorial services during National Police Week.

About the SPD:  Walton has high praise for his superiors and fellow officers.  “Chief Greg Charles, Lt. Bill Lyle, the mayor, and the guys in the department here support me big time.  If it weren’t for all of them, I don’t know what I’d do.  If I have to attend a funeral or be somewhere else with the honor guard, they’ll swap shifts with me or work over until I get back.  They know what it means to me and to our department.  To be able to represent them, Springville, St. Clair County, and the state of Alabama in DC, there’s no bigger honor than that.”

Mayor Butch Isley on Walton:  “Wayne is always going out of his way to help people.  He’s a great inspiration for the younger officers who work with our department, and he provides a fine example of someone who cares about the families of officers who have fallen in the line of duty.”

A new project he’s taken on:  Commanding an honor guard for the St. Clair County Association of Fire and Rescue.  Uniforms, badges and patches have been designed, and an organizational meeting is set for next week.  “That’s going to be nice for St. Clair County to have its own honor guard.  If anyone would like to help with it, they need to be at the Davis Lake Fire Department on March 24 at 7 o’clock.”