George L Garrett Jr Memorial Park - Redwood City, CA
Posted by: 
saopaulo1
N 37° 28.093 W 122° 15.376
10S E 565767 N 4147074
A park named after a police officer.
Waymark Code: WMT95T
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 10/17/2016
Views: 1
This is a small park in a neighborhood in Redwood City. The park has green areas and a small playground. Street parking is available. The park is named for officer George L Garrett Jr.
About George L Garrett Jr: "On Friday, May 8, 1981, at 12:04 PM, Redwood City Dispatch received a phone call advising of a possible bomb threat inside Bank of America located at 110 California Street. The call was followed by a silent alarm activation two minutes later. Four plain clothes officers from the Vice/Intelligence/Narcotics Unit responded to the bank from the Police Department. Sergeant George Garrett arrived first and entered the bank through the Winklebleck Street doors. Business appeared to be normal. Detective Dale Switzer arrived in another car with Detective Ron Brooks and Detective Robert Peele. Detective Switzer went in the El Camino doors followed seconds later by Detective Brooks. Detective Peele parked the car and notified dispatch of their arrival.
The bank was crowded with customers. Sergeant Garrett walked toward the branch manager where she was seated with a man later identified as Raleigh Porche. Garrett put his hand on Porche’s shoulder, asked him how he was doing. Porche immediately pulled a gun from his waistband. As he did so, Garrett reached across the desk and pushed the bank manager out of the line of fire as he was reaching for his own gun. Porche shot Sergeant Garrett once between the eyes and once in the chest. Porche started to walk away as Detective Switzer ran toward him. Detectives Switzer and Brooks opened fire on Porche, with Detective Switzer killing him. Detective Peele was also shot twice in the arm during the shooting.
The funeral for Sergeant Garrett was attended by 1,400 guests, most of which were police officers in full dress uniform. He was buried at Skyline Memorial Park. He was portrayed as a hero who took the time to shove a bank employee out of the line of fire before turning to face the robber. He was praised for his extensive work with the community’s youth, having given narcotics presentations to various school and public groups on his own time.
The suspect, Raleigh Porche, age 36. Porche was an ex-convict released in a Mexican prisoner exchange program. He was later connected to two other bank robberies.
Thirty nine years old, Garrett was survived by his wife, who was eight months pregnant with their first child. Nineteen days after his murder, his daughter Nicole was born. In July 1981, city officials dedicated George L. Garrett Junior Memorial Park in his honor." (
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