Fallen Officer’s Memory Lives on

Officer James Page, Officer of the Year for 2001, will receive the Steve McCulley Memorial Scholarship on Tuesday, June 18th, at 2:15 p.m. in the Roll Call Room in the City/County Building. Officer Page was selected 2001 Officer of the Year for catching a robbery suspect while he was off-duty and in plain clothes last September. The Steve McCulley Memorial Scholarship Fund was established with gifts from the community at the time of Lt. McCulley’s death. A 21-year law enforcement veteran, he was killed in the line of duty in February of 1999. The Knoxville Christian Community Foundation administers the fund, and guidelines for this fund include a monetary award of $200. to be given to the Officer of the Year for the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. The McCulley family would like for this award to be presented annually as a memorial to Officer Steve McCulley. McCulley’s widow, Lesa, will present the award. On September 29th, 2001, Officer Page was shopping in Walgreen’s on Magnolia Avenue around 9:30 p.m. An employee of the KFC across the street ran into the store screaming that the KFC was being robbed. Officer Page questioned the employee about what kind of weapons the suspect had, but the employee didn’t know. Officer Page told the employee to call 911 and advise that he needed assistance. As the officer approached the KFC, he saw two employees running toward the back of the building and two more employees struggling with the suspect. The suspect was armed with a large knife and had cut a female employee on the arm and neck. Officer Page ordered the suspect onto the floor at gunpoint and the suspect dropped the weapon. He didn’t have any handcuffs with him, so he got a belt from one of the employees and secured the suspect until back up from the Knoxville Police Department arrived. Officer Page has been with KCSO since October 1998 and on patrol since March 2001. He credits his reaction to the incident with training from the Knox County Sheriff’s Training Academy and the training in the Field Training Officer’s program.