TAMPA, Fla. — The name of fallen Tampa Police Department Officer Jesse Madsen has been added to one of the agency's helicopters.
It's a sort of solemn tradition for the department and one that honors the officer for his sacrifice to the community, police said in a news release.
His name joins a list of 32 fallen officers who have died in the line of duty.
Madsen died Tuesday, March 9, when he veered his cruiser into a wrong-way driver on Interstate 275, Police Chief Brian Dugan said. Dugan said the 45-year-old officer died trying to protect others.
Madsen had been with the Tampa Police Department for 16 years. Dugan said he was a decorated police officer and a seven-time recipient of police life-saving awards.
He dedicated his life to the safety and service of others, Dugan added, first as a United States Marine combat veteran, then as a police officer in Lyndhurst and Shaker Heights, Ohio.
"When you look at someone who's earned seven life-saving awards, it's no surprise that he would take such swift action and do this," Dugan said.
Madsen leaves behind a wife and three kids.
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