Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter has asked the department heads of The City to put their flags at half-staff to honor Police Memorial Week. This would begin on Monday, May 16th, and until Friday, May 20th. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation that designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week.
There have been thousands of police officers killed in the line of duty since this country began. Plymouth itself lost an officer while on duty on December 11, 1967. Patrolman James Nelson lost his life when his Plymouth squad car collided with a semi-tractor trailer on North Michigan Street. Officer Nelson left behind a wife and two children.
In October of 2008, the city’s portion of Muckshaw Road was changed to Jim Nelson Drive in his memory.
On August 3, 1995 Indiana State Police Motor Carrier Inspector Ray Reed was killed in the line of duty on US 30 west of Oak Road. Officer Reed was inspecting a truck on the westbound berm when he was struck by another semi-tractor trailer that drove onto the berm. Officer Reed, a Plymouth resident, is survived by a wife and two children.
In August of 2015, the 20th anniversary of his death, a newly refurbished roadside memorial on US 30 was erected in his memory. In 2019 the Indiana Legislature passed a resolution to rename US30 from Pioneer Drive to Oak Drive the Ray Reed Memorial Drive. Thanks to FOP Lodge #195 and State Representative Jack Jordan for making this happen.
