Officer Vaird
Philadelphia Police Officer Lauretha Vaird #5897 was appointed to the Philadelphia Police Academy Class #268 on June 23, 1986 and assigned to the 25th Police District on November 3, 1986. Officer Vaird was shot and killed on Tuesday, January 2, 1996, while responding to a bank robbery at the PNC Bank located at 4710 Rising Sun Avenue.
The two suspects responsible for the murder of Officer Vaird were arrested a short time later. A third suspect was arrested several days later during a traffic stop in Maryland. On November 1, 1996 the suspect who shot Officer Vaird was sentenced to death.
Officer Vaird, who was 43 years old at the time of her death and a mother of two sons (Michael 17 and Steven 11), was the first female in the history of the Philadelphia Police Department to be killed in the line of duty and a nine year police veteran before her untimely death.
Eight years after her murder, Officer Vaird was honored with a Memorial Plaque Dedication at the PNC Bank located at 4710 Rising Sun Avenue. Approximately 200 people attended this wonderful and well deserved Memorial. The installation and purchase of the plaque was a collaborative effort involving the Fraternal Order of Police, the Philadelphia Police Department and private citizens spearheaded by Attorney Jimmy Binns.
Fellow officers remembered her as a role model. “Laurie was like the mother of us all” fellow Officer Myra Jones said in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She, like many officers, benefited from Vaird’s advice on matters from the proper filing of accident reports to “how to live a good life.”
Police Officer Lauretha Vaird #5897 gave the ultimate sacrifice while performing her duties and she will be forever remembered by the Philadelphia Police Department, the City of Philadelphia and the residents in the community in which she served.
