Park Police detective dies

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Park Police detective dies

by Sebastian Montes | Staff Writer

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Brent LaMere

Funeral services are Saturday for a detective with the Maryland-National Capital Park Police who died on Monday.

Brent LaMere, 32, of Damascus fell ill at work Monday in Silver Spring, and co-workers urged him to go to a hospital, said Park Police Lt. Brian Smith. LaMere drove himself to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville and collapsed as he walked across the parking lot, Smith said.

He could not be revived. The cause of death has not been released.

LaMere worked for Park Police for 12 years, first signing on as a volunteer in 1995. He was named the agency’s ‘‘Detective of the Year” in 2003 and 2006, according to Park Police. He became a patrol officer in 1998 and was promoted to detective in 2003, working in the Investigative Services Section to solve robberies, rapes and thefts in the bi-county Planning Commission’s Montgomery County parks.

‘‘Brent was truly an asset to the Montgomery County Park System and to the police profession. He will be sorely missed,” Park Police Chief Nathaniel J. Barber said in a statement.

LaMere is the second government employee to die while working this week. Tuesday morning, Stephen Peters, a mechanic with the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation, fell to his death while repairing equipment at a county facility near Rockville.

LaMere is survived by his wife, Summer Lynn, and his 5-year old daughter, Allison Lee, as well as his parents, three brothers and a sister.

‘‘The Park Police play an important role in keeping our community safe and Detective LaMere has been a major factor in that mission since 1995,” County Council President Marilyn J. Praisner said in a statement Thursday. ‘‘The fact that he started as a volunteer demonstrated his love of the police profession and his dedication. Our hearts go out to his family and friends and to all his fellow workers.”

There will be a viewing from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 520 Viers Mill Road in Rockville.

The funeral service is 10:30 a.m. Saturday, also at St. Mary’s.

A reception is planned after the service at Park Police Headquarters, 12751 Layhill Road in Silver Spring.

The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, contributions in LaMere’s memory be sent to H.E.R.O.E.S., Inc., 666 Eleventh Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20001 or to Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc., P.O. Box 3199, Camdenton, MO 65020.