[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 14 (Tuesday, February 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H537-H538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             WILLIAM D. GLOVER, JR.: HUSBAND, OFFICER, HERO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to pay tribute to Officer 
William Glover, of the Ashtabula Police Department. On November 17, 
1997, William Glover was senselessly killed in the line of duty, shot 
execution style by a 21-year-old man wanted by police for aggravated 
robbery.
  It was a Monday afternoon and Bill Glover was responding to a call 
when he spotted the suspect on West 43rd Street in Ashtabula. Knowing 
that an arrest warrant had been issued, Patrolman Glover radioed in 
that he was pursuing the suspect on foot. Seconds later police received 
a 911 call saying that shots had been fired in the area.
  Fellow officers found Officer Glover lying in the snow critically 
injured, his service revolver still in its holster. He had been shot 
three times, once in the torso and twice in the head. He was flown by 
medical helicopter to Cleveland's MetroHealth Medical Center, where he 
died early the next day.
  Bill Glover, age 30, left behind a wife, Marianne, and three small 
children and a community and department in mourning. It had been four 
decades, Mr. Speaker, since another Ashtabula officer had been shot and 
killed in the line of duty.
  Bill Glover had been a police officer since 1988, and had worked as 
chief of police for the Roaming Shores Village before joining the 
Ashtabula Police Department just 6 months before his death. His death 
deeply affected the citizens of Ashtabula and particularly the 
residents of the city's public housing complexes.
  Bill Glover had been hired by the Ashtabula department as part of a 
drug elimination grant awarded to the Ashtabula Metropolitan Housing 
Authority. In the short time that he patrolled the city's housing 
complexes, he had become well-known and well-liked. His efforts to 
eradicate the area of drugs and crime were genuinely appreciated by 
residents.
  Since his death, Mr. Speaker, every resident of one of the public 
housing complexes he patrolled, Bonniewood Estates, has signed a 
petition to rename Bonniewood Drive to Glover's Lane and hope to 
establish a recreation center in his name. Perhaps only in death will 
Patrolman Glover's family, friends, and community truly understand the 
impact that he had on the city's residents.
  One Bonniewood resident summed it up this way: To a lot of kids here, 
Officer Glover was the only male role model they had and they are going 
to miss him.
  While renaming Bonniewood Drive in Bill Glover's memory is 
undoubtedly appreciated by his widow, it cannot fully ease her pain or 
diminish her loss, nor should it be expected to. For Marianne Glover, 
Bill Glover was not just one of Ashtabula's cherished ``Men in Blue,'' 
he was her beloved husband and the father of her three children, 
Philip, 10, Sean, 7, and Amanda, 5.
  Mr. Speaker, it is regrettable that a profession as important as law 
enforcement is so fraught with danger. A law enforcement officer dies 
in this country every 54 hours, a rate of about three a week 
nationwide. That, Mr. Speaker, is unconscionable.
  I have submitted Bill Glover's name for inclusion in the National Law 
Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C., which honors the more than 
14,000 law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of 
duty during our Nation's history. It is my hope that Bill Glover's name 
will be added to the memorial's walls where the names of fallen 
officers are displayed in random order.

  Each May during an annual candlelight vigil the new names of fallen 
officers are added to coincide with the National Police Week. With the 
addition of each name, the theme of the memorial is reinforced: It is 
not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they 
lived.
  As we pay tribute to Ashtabula Patrolman William D. Glover, Jr., I 
hope that we will all remember the heroism that marked his life, the 
infectious joy and enthusiasm that he brought to his work, and the 
tremendous pride that he felt in being part of that elite corps of men 
and women in blue.
  Words, Mr. Speaker, cannot adequately convey all that he did in his 
life nor how his death has affected so many. While we mourn the 
senseless passing of the life of yet another good cop, we can take 
comfort knowing that Officer Bill Glover left his mark on this world 
and he left this world a safer, better place.

[[Page H538]]

  To his wife, Marianne, to his children, to his family, his community, 
and his department and his brethren in law enforcement, our most 
heartfelt sympathies are offered. In his sacrifice, he was able to 
leave earth and join hands with God. And I know that his watchful, 
caring eyes will continue to watch over and protect the family, 
department, and community that he loved so much.
  Mr. Speaker, may God bless Ashtabula Patrolman William D. Glover, 
Jr., and may God rest his soul.

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