Santa Cruz Police Memorial Photobomb

Thousands pay their respects to slain Santa Cruz police officers Elizabeth Butler and Butch Baker.

I said I wasn’t gonna do a photobomb, but that’s what I ended up with.

The partner of one of the slain Santa Cruz police detectives, Elizabeth Butler, is a bus driver for Santa Cruz Metro. SCPD and the Metro staff work closely together, and the Metro drivers who I know have been deeply affected by the slaying.


Butler 172

I biked up to the summit, where I shot video of the procession as it pass underneath Summit Road on Highway 17. I hopped on light rail at Winchester, where a packed train carried a crew of firefighters to the memorial service, along with others obviously headed to the HP Pavilion.

The memorial service is happening right now at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Thousands of law enforcement from all over California are here. All of the Bay Area agencies are here, as are every agency from Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito Counties. I saw police cars from the north and east including Yolo County and Stanislaw County. Several southern California agencies including Brea, Seal Beach, and Riverside (who lost officers of their own recently) represented.


Santa Cruz police funeral procession

After the service ends at the HP Pavilion, the return procession will follow the memorial, likely leaving San Jose at 3:30 or 4:00 and traveling over Highway 17, turning onto Mission Street, then down Bay Avenue and West Cliff to the Boardwalk. @CHP_GoldenGate has done a good job tweeting the location of the procession.

View the complete set of photos here.

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