Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

We miss you cousin Costa. I did not really know you, but I heard you were a great police officer. You are greatly missed by your family and friends. I hope that we can one day meet. Rest in peace.

Kristen Spanos
cousin

November 25, 2007

I was a University of Tulsa offensive lineman from 1993 to 1998. My first year at TU Gus's brother was a graduate assistant. I remember when he came to practice with a suit on, he was coming from his brothers trial. Since I was a young kid I wanted to be a police officer. Gus's family and death on the job drove me to become a Tulsa Police Officer. In 1993 I graduated from the Tulsa Poice academy. I worked in the north side of Tulsa where Gus had worked and I always remembered his sacrifice. After six years of service with the Tulsa Police Department I joined the Drug Enforcement Agency. To this day I have not forgotten Gus, his family and his sacrifice to law enforcement.

Robert A. Bella
Special Agent Drug Enforcement Agency

July 23, 2006

I rode with a deputy on the morning Gus was shot and one of the first places we stopped on his patrol was at the scene, which was still being worked. Gus died a day later.

It's a legacy of Gus that rides with Tulsa officers today as many patrol cars now have cameras in them. his widow was a driving force behind that and through that he lives, watching over his fellow officers.

Rich Lohman
Foremr Detention Officer, Tulsa County Sheriff's Office

June 8, 2006

I was in college when Off. Spanos was killed and I remember the support the majority of the citizens showed for him and his family. I think about him often now that I am in law enforcement. God bless you Off. Spanos, you are remembered, even by people who did not personally know you.

Officer Brian Mock
Wichita Police Department

November 2, 2005

Gus will always be remembered for so many great traits which are difficult to describe with words. Everybody who knew you even for a short time knows what I am talking about. Gus and myself completed the Tulsa Police Academy together. Gus always had a unique ability to make people laugh or see a positive side, even in stressful situations during our 6 months of training. Gus constantly displayed a great attitude about everything. It was very apparent his teamwork skills gained from all those years of playing football carried over into the daily task of working with fellow Officer's to make our community safe.
Within a year of our first assignment Gus desired to spend more time at home with his wife. He was working a swing shift, and I was on graveyards. We traded shifts as this allowed him to spend every evening with his wife before shift began at 11:30pm. This was the shift he was working the night of his last watch. We will never forget.

RG Dixon

Lt. RG Dixon
Oklahoma City Police Department

August 1, 2005

I have worked the same beat that Gus was killed in for most of the eight years that I have been on the Department.

On my first shift, a senior officer took me to the location that it occurred as a way to pay respect to Gus for his sacrifice.

I now return the favor and take every officer that I train, or any citizen that rides with me to the same location as a way to pay our respects.

Although I never met Gus, I can say that to this day he is still talked about and missed.

Officer Sean Larkin
Tulsa Police

July 6, 2005

At the beginning of every shift I supervise, myself and the other officers on shift dedicate the day to the memory of a fallen officer. Today, April 23, 2003 we dedicated the shift to the memory of Officer Gus Spanos who died on this date 10 years ago.

When one law enforcement officer falls, we all stumble for a while, but we will carry on.

Officer Spanos' sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Sgt. Paul Bissonnette
Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Surrey, BC

One of the bad things about being married to a nurse is you get the bad news first. My wife ran the ICU that Gus was in and kept me posted. She is always amazed by the number of Law Enforcement Officers that arrive at the hospital when a brother officer is hurt. No one truly understands the brotherhood unless they have been on the job. Gus was a fine young dedicated officer with dreams and goals cut down in his prime. You are greatly missed and a true hero that will always be remembered.

Assistant Chief Carl Wortham
Sand Springs Police Dept. Okla

Even though I did not know officer Spanos, I heard his story and I know that not only the Tulsa Police Department lost a fine outstanding officer but so did the Nation.

My greatest sympathies and condolences to the Family and friends of officer Gus Spanos

Anonymous