Zoch is a retired HPD homicide lieutenant. After 36 years on the force, he retired in 2004 and decided to compile the information that he had been gathering since 1998 into a book.

“I realized it would be worthwhile to get all of this together,” said Zoch.

“Fallen Heroes of the Bayou City-Houston Police Department 1860-2006” is the culmination of Zoch’s years of dedication to bringing these stories together.

Zoch joined the police department in 1968, Academy Class No. 37, and his first assignment was that of night-shift radio patrolman. He was promoted to detective in 1972, which led him to the homicide division. Following his promotion to lieutenant in 1977, he worked again in radio patrol, as shift lieutenant, until 1980. For the next 24 years, Zoch was a Murder Squad lieutenant.

The event that opened the door to his research, and ultimately to the book, was an article he wrote about the capital murder of Officer Leon Griggs in 1998. He then learned the fulfillment of getting to know the families of slain officers, some of whom he knew personally. He told the families that their loved ones were not, and would not be, forgotten by their fellow officers.

Over the past eight years, 55 of Nelson’s stories have been published in the Badge and Gun (publication of the Houston Police Officers Union) as well as in the Retired Badge, the publication of the Houston Police Retired Officers Association.

Houston Police Officers have lost their lives in various ways. Sixty-eight were shot, three were stabbed, 12 died in automobile accidents, 10 were killed while directing traffic for the safety of citizens, eight died in motorcycle accidents, one drowned, three died of heart attacks while attempting to enforce the law, and one died as a result of a severe beating he had received 14 years earlier.

While researching the lives and deaths of these officers, Zoch learned that some of them had no markers on their graves to indicate how they died. Zoch sought help from the 100 Club and the Houston Police Officers Union. With the aid of those organizations and several funeral homes, 43 foot markers have been set, not only in Houston, but in rural Texas, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. “Houston Police Officer ... Killed in the Line of Duty” now marks the graves of these officers.

Zoch has received many awards for his work in this field, most recently the Law Enforcement Commendation Medal by the Sons of the American Revolution.

“We shouldn’t forget the sacrifices that these people made,” he said.

For information on how to obtain a copy of the book, visit www.callofdutypublications.com.