Officer Christopher Robert Betts

Officer Christopher Robert Betts

East Point Police Department, Georgia

End of Watch Sunday, December 22, 2002

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Christopher Robert Betts

Officer Christopher Betts was struck by several vehicles and killed while he and another officer struggled with a suspect on the side of I-285, near Camp Creek Parkway, at approximately 1:00 am.

The officers had gone to that location to investigate a suspicious person. While talking with the man, a struggle ensued and it spilled into the travel lane of the highway. Both officers and the suspect were struck by three vehicles. Officer Betts and the suspect were killed, and the second officer was critically injured.

One of the three vehicles that struck the men fled the scene.

Officer Betts was a U.S. Army veteran and had served with the East Point Police Department for two years. He is survived by his wife, 7-week-old son, parents, two brothers, and two sisters.

Bio

  • Age 26
  • Tour 2 years
  • Badge 4562
  • Military Veteran

Incident Details

  • Cause Struck by vehicle
  • Weapon Automobile
  • Offender Struck and killed

suspicious person

Most Recent Reflection

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It’s not always easy to comprehend that each law enforcement officer memorialized on this site, every single one, was someone’s child, many, a husband or wife, mother or father, brother or sister, cousin, friend, or neighbor. Each had dreams, and hopes, and each had good days and bad. They all laughed, and they all cried. Every one of them planned on tomorrow, a tomorrow that never came. Chris is part of a gut punching long list of heroes immortalized here, and in that sense, he and his eternal colleagues of courage, will live forever. Make no mistake as you scroll through these vignettes of tragedy, these officers were real people, and the loss of their presence, the irreparable hole ripped into the lives of those left behind is tangible and enduring. Each of their lives is overshadowed by their in the line of duty death, and that is what we commemorate here, but let’s never forget the families, friends, and coworkers who were fortunate enough to know them prior to their last day. And it is to them, Chris’s family, his friends, and his coworkers (of which I was one), that I say: Chris’s death has never gotten less sad, but we are collectively more enriched for having known him before December 22, 2002 - a toast to Chris.

Tim Barge
Former Lieutenant, East Point PD

December 22, 2023

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