Hernando County honors fallen officers during National Police Week ceremonies

Hernando County’s Police Week observance turned on two names local law enforcement still carries close: Captain Scott Bierwiler and Detective Tommy Breedlove. At the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office memorial in Brooksville, officers and mourners gathered to honor the fallen as National Police Week again drew attention to the cost of service and the families left behind.

Bierwiler’s death remains one of the county’s most searing losses. The sheriff’s office says he was killed on the morning of Feb. 19, 2009, after 23 years with HCSO. Officer Down Memorial Page says his patrol car was struck head-on by a teenage driver on Powell Road south of Brooksville. He was 42. He also received the Medal of Valor, and he left behind a wife, three children, his mother, a sister and a brother.

Breedlove’s death gave that remembrance a newer, more public health-driven layer. HCSO announced on Sept. 5, 2021, that Detective Tommy Breedlove died after contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty. Officer Down Memorial Page says he served 33 years, was 54 years old and is survived by his wife and seven children. His death underscored that the risks officers face are not limited to roadside violence or traffic crashes. They can also include the job’s exposure to illness, a reality that still shapes how agencies think about duty, protection and loss.

The local ceremonies sat inside a larger national observance that began when President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day in 1962. Congress later designated the week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund says the 38th Annual Candlelight Vigil is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, 2026, a reminder that Hernando County’s tributes are part of a national roll call of sacrifice.

In nearby Dade City, more than 100 people attended a 45-minute ceremony on May 1 that honored nine law enforcement officers who died in Pasco County over 117 years. The service included a riderless horse, the national anthem, prayers and memorial plaques, with personnel from the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol and other agencies taking part.

For Hernando County, the Brooksville ceremony made the legacy especially plain. Bierwiler and Breedlove were not abstract symbols of service. Their deaths shaped the county’s memorial traditions and keep alive the hard truth that public safety here is carried by people whose families, colleagues and communities still live with the aftermath.