Blue Light Ceremony Honors Fallen Officers

It’s been a deadly year for the men and women protecting the streets.

A Riverside police officer was killed last month in the line of duty and on Monday local law enforcement agencies gathered in La Quinta for the annual Blue Light ceremony to honor the fallen heroes.

Violent crimes across the country are down, but the number of officers killed in the line of duty is on the rise, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

In the past 12 months, 149 peace officers have been killed which is a 43 percent increase from the prior year, according to Under sheriff Colleen Walker.

Blue lights lined the council chambers to symbolize the cost officers have paid through the years serving in the line of duty.

Border Patrol, Cal Fire, California Highway Patrol and several local leaders were in attendance.

Monday’s vigil in La Quinta was one of two blue light ceremonies hosted by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

“Thankfully, we have no fallen officers this year,” said Walker.

The last officer killed working for the sheriff’s department was Deputy Manuel Villegas, who died in a traffic collision in 2007.

“Bruce Lee is the one that’s really close to my heart,” said Walker. “He died right here in the La Quinta Cove on duty protecting a family. He was beaten to death.”

Lee’s widow, mother, father and other friends and family watched the ceremony.

Ryan Bonaminio, 27, was the first Riverside police officer to be killed in the line of duty since January of 2001.

Bonaminio was murdered last month — shot while trying to catch a truck driver who left the scene of an accident.

California Highway Patrol officer Danny Benavides was killed in May.

He lived in Indio and was based out of Thermal.

Benavides’ airplane crashed into Split Mountain — southwest of the Salton Sea.

“The holidays really bring it home and make it difficult for those survivors,” said Walker.

The Blue Light ceremony started more than 20 years ago, when a mother in Pennsylvania lost her son in the line of duty.

She placed a blue light in her window honoring him — a tradition that has now spread across the country and into the Coachella Valley, where the sheriff’s department has held the vigil for a decade.

“All of the survivor’s families,” said Walker, “Their loved ones paid the ultimate sacrifice and it’s the very least that we could do is to support them during this time.”

In 2010, 11 officers have been killed in the line of duty in California and five of them worked for CHP, according to Walker.