Conference room transformed into unique memorial for slain officer


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DRAPER — For the past eight months a room at the Draper police station was known as the Derek Johnson Conference Room.

"So we could just have an area that is dedicated to Derek, that we could always remember Derek and always keep his memory alive,” explained Deputy Police Chief John Eining.

Sgt. Johnson was killed in September 2013 when he stopped to help a man and woman on the side of the road. The man, later identified as Timothy Troy Walker, shot Johnson while he was still in his patrol car.

The Draper police conference room includes pictures from Johnson's funeral, the candle from law enforcement week in Washington, D.C., and the etching of Johnson's on the national memorial.

Last week, something new was added.

“We started looking at the car and said, what could we do? I mean, this car was so much a part of him, as far as what he did for the city," Eining said.

The driver-side door from Johnson’s patrol car is now hanging on a wall — so is the vehicle's light bar with Johnson's call number, and even the light bar controls and radio mic.

“Everything about this room, about this space, is always going to speak of Derek," Eining said.

Officials even had the light bar wired to the controls so the lights flash.

“We do tours all the time. We do it for Scout groups, for the public and different things; and what a great way to always talk about Derek," Eining said. "When we bring in a tour of Scout kids, we can turn on the light bar, which they think is absolutely wonderful, and it gives us an opportunity to tell them a little bit about Derek."

It also gives them another opportunity to always remember kind of officer and the kind of man Johnson was.

“Remember, that tragic day he stopped to help out a couple of people on the side of the road. He could have easily driven by and not cared, but that wasn't who he was," Eining said. "He is truly not forgotten."

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