Trail of Heroes

Trail of Heroes

The Trail of Heroes was built by the sweat of Kansas City Missouri police officers and volunteers to honor fallen members of the police department. The trail winds around the Shoal Creek Patrol and Police Academy campus and alongside a lake and a pond.

The trail features benches that have been dedicated to specific fallen officers. The first portion of the trail is devoted to officers who have died in the line of duty.

The bench at the opening of the trail is in honor of Officer Warren Jackman, who was killed during a bank robbery at 169 Highway and Englewood Road in 1976. When his former Academy classmates heard about the Trail of Heroes, they came together to donate $500 for a bench in his memory.

The second part of the trail is devoted to members of the Police Department who have passed away off-duty or after retirement. A bench overlooking the south side of the Academy campus is dedicated to Major Darrell Chism, who died in a car accident in December 2007. Major Chism oversaw much of the construction of the new Police Academy, completed in November 2007.

From the time Police Chief James Corwin instructed the KCPD’s Facilities Management Division to oversee the creation of the Trail of Heroes, there were many people who put time and effort into clearing and constructing the trail. Both work and materials were volunteered.
Employees of the Facilities Management Division and the Capital Improvements Unit have continued to maintain and improve the Trail since its dedication on October 30, 2008.

 

KCPD’s Capital Improvements Unit plans to expand the trail eventually to connect to the nearby Pleasant Valley Athletic Complex.  In the future, Kansas City Parks and Recreation plans to tie the Trail of Heroes into a regional trail hat will run all the way to Parkville, MO.

Anyone interested in donating money for a memorial bench along the Trail can call KCPD’s Capital Improvements Unit at contact@trailofheroes.com or 816-581-0682. Benches can be purchased for $500. See the “Sponsor a Bench” page for more details.