City partners with non-profit to honor fallen Police Officers

The Culver City Police Department held a short service Tuesday morning to honor two past department members who died while serving Culver City. A small display in front of City Hall honored the officers — Culver City Police Lieutenant Curtis Massey and Officer Alonzo H. "Lonnie" Garwood — and served as the backdrop for the ceremony.

Before the service honoring Massey and Garwood, a group of bike riders from the non-profit Law Enforcement United (LEU), which is dedicated to recognizing police officers who died in the line of duty, rode down Culver Boulevard and Duquesne Avenue to stop at the Culver City Police Department headquarters. The event was part of the 2025 iteration of LEU's annual Long Ride, an eight-day bike ride through a state and its cities to honor fallen officers and advocate for LEU.

Culver City Police Chief Jason Sims was among the speakers at Tuesday morning's service. He spoke highly of Lieutenant Massey's work as a School Resource Officer protecting and interacting with the children of the Culver City community.

"He was well respected in that field," Sims said of Massey's work with students.

Mayor Dan O'Brien spoke of his personal experiences with Massey, recalling his kids sitting on Massey's lap when the latter played Santa on the CCPD Santa Sleigh. Massey was in an unmarked car on Interstate 10 on January 28, 2009, at around 5 a.m. when he was struck and killed by a wrong-way driver, who also died in the collision.

"He truly espoused the community policing way of life," O'Brien said during his remarks.

Massey's widow, Melody, attended the ceremony to receive flowers in honor of Lieutenant Massey, who was also survived by their three children.

Following his passing, the city worked with Karen Bass, a California Assembly Member at the time, to rename the eastbound Interstate 10 Freeway between the Interstate 405 interchange and the National Boulevard exit in the City of Los Angeles the "Curtis Massey Memorial Freeway."

The only other officer killed while serving with the Culver City Police is Lonnie Garwood, who lost his life in a motorcycle crash on September 4, 1921. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, Officer Garwood was passing a truck as another vehicle passed a car coming from the opposite direction. He turned his motorcycle quickly to avoid a collision and was thrown to the ground, with the motorcycle landing on top of him. Garwood was returning to his post after pursuing speeders when the accident occurred.