Crime & Safety
Memorial Service for Slain Officers Moved to HP Pavilion in San Jose
Originally scheduled for the 3,000-seat arena in Santa Cruz, police realized too many people want to come pay their respects.
The memorial for officers Loran "Butch" Baker and Elizabeth Butler has been moved from Santa Cruz to San Jose's HP Pavilion, 525 W. Santa Clara St., at noon, March 7 to fit the large number of people expected to attend.
The larger arena holds 17,000 people. Santa Cruz's Kaiser Permanente Arena holds 3,000 and it would have taken several venues with television feeds to hold everyone, police said.
There will be a motorcade before the ceremony and a private reception in Santa Cruz afterwards, details of which are forthcoming.
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"We want to afford everyone the opportunity to honor these heroes and remember them together," said Deputy Chief Steve Clark.
The Santa Cruz Police Department realized that interest from public to honor the fallen officers, killed in the line of duty Tuesday, would have meant splitting the memorial into four venues in Santa Cruz, Clark said.
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People from throughout the country plan to be at the service for the fallen detectives , Clark said.
"We felt it wouldn't capture the essence of a real memorial service" to have it in multiple places, Clark said. "We felt that we had to have that real experience together ... We didn't want anyone to feel that they could not come because of venue restrictions."
HP Pavilion representatives "have been absolutely gracious to us" and will help prepare the arena to make it available for the service, Clark said.
Baker, 51, and Butler, 38, were allegedly shot to death by a criminal suspect, Jeremy Goulet, 35, while trying to interview him about a misdemeanor sexual assault in Santa Cruz.
Goulet was later gunned down in a shootout with police.
The HP Pavilion, where the San Jose Sharks professional hockey team plays, seats 17,500 people for hockey and has a maximum seating capacity of 20,000, according to the Sharks website.
A motorcade procession, with vehicles from Santa Cruz police, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department, Santa Cruz firefighters and emergency responders, will precede the memorial, Clark said.
The line of vehicles, to stretch about two miles, will make its way from Santa Cruz to San Jose on Highway 17 that morning, Clark said.
—Bay City News contributed to this report
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