Reserve Officer Killed in the Line of Duty
Date of Death: May 17, 2005
Rank: Reserve Officer (Sergeant)
Age: 59
Years of Service: 9 years:
6 in Auxiliary Service, 3 in Reserve Corps
Location of Death: Wisconsin Avenue & M Street, NW
Circumstance
On May 14, 2005, Reserve Officer Joseph Pozell was struck by a sport-utility vehicle while working in one of the busiest intersections in Georgetown, at Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, NW. He was rushed to George Washington University Hospital in critical condition. He succumbed to the injuries he received three days later, on Tuesday, May 17, 2005. At the time of his death, Officer Pozell was surrounded by his wife (Ella), son (Joseph Jr.), and countless other family members, friends and co-workers within the Metropolitan Police Department. Officer Pozell was 59 years old.
On May 16, 2006, during the 27th Annual Memorial Service for Law Enforcement Officers in the Washington, DC, area, Chief of Police Charles H. Ramsey posthumously elevated Joseph Pozell to a "Level II" Reserve and promoted him to the rank of Reserve Sergeant.
Biography
Joseph Pozell began his association with the Metropolitan Police Department as a civilian volunteer with the Police Auxiliary Service in 1996. On May 18, 2002, he was appointed as an officer with the MPDC's Police Reserve Corps. He began helping pedestrians and motorists navigate the traffic-choked intersection in Georgetown in December 2003. He said he began directing traffic because it was "a good way to do something for the community."
When not volunteering with the MPDC, Joseph Pozell served as superintendent of the historic Oak Hill Cemetery on R Street NW, where he and his wife lived in quarters on the grounds.
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