Honor chair to be built for fallen SAPD officer
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — Just under two months after its fundraiser was launched, the honor chair for fallen San Angelo Police Department Officer Steven Carnes has had its date of construction scheduled.
“Honor chairs,” a concept pioneered by the Saving a Hero’s Place organization, are customized chairs “hand-built by first responders, family and survivors” at the police departments where they will reside. These chairs are constructed “so that fellow co-workers and family have the opportunity to build the chair with [Saving a Hero’s Place], to help save the place of their fallen loved one.”
“When an Officer makes the ultimate sacrifice, his/her presence is missed,” Saving a Hero’s Place said. “The Honor Chair is placed … as a reminder that even though they are not there physically, the officer will always be with you as you head out to the battles, carrying on the watch.”
The San Angelo Police Officer’s Coalition started a fundraiser to help pay for Carnes’ chair in late January 2024. Carnes, who served communities across Texas as a law enforcement officer for 30 years, died on Nov. 13, 2022, after suffering a medical emergency while assisting another agency in an arrest at Koronazz at around 1:53 a.m. that day.
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Carnes has been memorialized in the past, with events such as memorial runs serving to honor his life and legacy. The chair is a more permanent fixture meant to remember the man behind the uniform.
“I know that Steven was not from the SAPD,” SAPOC Vice President of Supervisors John Bouligny said. “However, a lot of us worked with him at some point during our careers.”
Carnes’ honor chair is set to be constructed on March 25 and March 26 at the San Angelo Police Department. Then, it will be transported to the District Attorney’s Office for a presentation on March 27 and placed there.
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