Seattle Police Fallen Officer Memorial Project

Honoring Fallen SPD Officer Joselito "Lito" Barber

Exemplifying the words “we will not forget…”

We have wonderful news to share about Officer Joselito “Lito” Barber’s memorial.

The Filipino Community of Seattle (FCS) has agreed to provide space for Officer Barber’s mourning badge memorial at the Filipino Community Center (FCC) in south Seattle. Owned and operated by FCS, FCC is a beautiful, publicly accessible facility with a deep connection to Officer Barber and his family. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect location. 

We want to extend a very gracious thank you to FCS Executive Director Agnes Navarro and the entire FCS Board of Directors for their incredible partnership. Finding the right location for an officer’s permanent memorial can be a challenging endeavor, and we’re so grateful that this came together so smoothly. 

The fundraising continues…

As of today, Monday, September 9, 2024, we are just under 3/4 of the way to our goal of $16,000 to purchase and install Officer Barber’s memorial stone. If you have not yet donated and would like to help us close the gap, please make a gift today. 

This fundraising initiative is the 2024 iteration of the Seattle Police Fallen Officer Memorial Project, which honors one SPD fallen officer per year, traveling backwards through time. Each badge-shaped granite memorial stone mirrors the granite mourning badge installed in honor of Officer Timothy Brenton in the Leschi neighborhood, and features the fallen officer’s serial number, which is etched on its face. 

Officer Barber’s memorial stone will be inscribed with his serial number, 6897. 

Located in south Seattle, the Filipino Community Center is beautiful facility and a community hub

The Seattle Police Fallen Officer Memorial Project came to us in 2022 as a grant proposal from SPD Detective Britt (Sweeney) Kelly, who was in the car with Officer Tim Brenton when he was shot and killed on October 31, 2009. Kelly, who graduated from Washington’s Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) in August of 2009, had been on the street for less than a month when it happened.  

It was her second night with Officer Brenton, who was her Field Training Officer (FTO). 

Her deep connection to Brenton’s line of duty death is one of the things that inspired her to write the grant. As a part of the proposal, Kelly made a commitment to oversee the care and maintenance of the memorials, working with SPD’s newly hired officers to manage each stone’s upkeep. The physical act of caring for the memorials dovetails nicely with conversations about line of duty deaths, plus it gives SPD student officers the opportunity to learn about their brothers and sisters who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our city.

Det. Kelly was instrumental in helping to secure the Filipino Community Center as the home for Lito’s memorial and we’re incredibly grateful to her for everything she did to facilitate this outcome. Now, we want to help bring her vision to fruition by raising the rest of the funding needed to make Officer Barber’s memorial a reality. 

In honor of Officer Barber, we are asking our community of supporters to help us reach our goal of $16,000 to purchase and install the memorial stone. We hope to reach our goal by October 1, 2024, and plan to install the memorial in May of 2025. 

Officer Barber was taken from the Seattle community far too soon. Please help us honor Officer Barber’s memory with a donation today: Officer Joselito Barber