Sergeant Willis R. Haralson

Willis R. Haralson

Sergeant Haralson and Trooper James Young, of the Georgia State Patrol, were shot and killed by a suspect who had managed to gain control of Trooper Young's service weapon. Trooper Young had arrested the man and brought him to the Cordele Police Department for a breath test when the suspect attacked the trooper. The suspect was later apprehended and sentenced to life but served only 14 years.

Sergeant Haralson had been with the agency for 15 years and was survived by his wife and three children, one of whom went on to become a law enforcement officer as well.

The younger Haralson spent 11 years as a police officer before being tapped by Governor Joe Frank Harris in 1988 to serve as sheriff of Crisp County. Sergeant Haralson's son served in law enforcement for 37 years and held a number of executive positions in the Georgia law enforcement community including tenure as president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, which named him the 2010 Georgia Sheriff of the Year.