Beckie Jones’ quest to change the name of Highway 126 to Officer Chris Kilcullen Memorial Highway is nearing its end, as the state Senate passed Senate Bill 987 last Thursday.
Jones is a University student, wife and mother of three with family members involved in several of the different branches of law enforcement.
She started a Facebook page called “Chris Kilcullen Rename Hwy. 126 ‘Officer Chris Kilcullen Memorial Highway’” Sunday, April 24, two days after Kilcullen was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop.
“Chris was exceptionally talented and skilled in working with people with mental health disabilities. Coincidentally he initiated a pursuit with the person who shot and killed him on April 22nd. He initiated this on his way home; he didn’t have to do this,” Eugene Police Chief Pete Kerns said. “It is fitting because of his work — the way that he dedicated himself to serve the community, and the majority of his enforcement was on this stretch of highway, that it should be named after him in memoriam.”
Key people picked up and passed the message along to the media, Jones said about the attention the website and the senate bill have been getting.
Within three hours of starting the page, there were 600 fans and over the next two weeks the number grew to 3,000. As of Tuesday, the number of fans was slightly more than 3,200.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen our city as unified as I have recently for the support of Chris and his family,” State Sen. Chris Edwards said.
Jones said that within the first four hours, the governor’s office heard about the page and Jones started to encourage people to write to the Oregon Department of Transportation, State Sen. Floyd Prozanski and the Eugene City Council.
“After the tragic death of Officer Chris Kilcullen, my office received numerous phone calls and emails, asking that we pay tribute in some form to him,” Edwards said.
Prozanski agreed, saying the bill has been a county-wide effort to pay tribute to him. Edwards and Prozanski were among the 12 Lane County legislators who sponsored the bill.
“We were starting to get the word out. We weren’t necessarily getting it to the right person, but we were getting it to the people who could get it to the right person,” Jones said.
The Senate agreed to rename a portion of the Eugene-Springfield Highway, Officer Chris Kilcullen Memorial Highway, beginning where the highway intersects with West 6th Avenue and West 7th Avenue in Eugene and ending where the highway intersects with Main Street in Springfield.
“We are standing united to do this for the community. To pay tribute to him and honor not only his work, but also serving as a reminder for all of us as well as his family,” Prozanski said.
The bill has moved on to the Oregon House of Representatives after its passage through the Senate.
“I got what I wanted and more,” Jones said of the rapid response many city and state officials had to rename the highway Kilcullen used for work, to go home and where he was eventually killed.
“It’s become clear to me that he was truly a good and genuine person, dedicated officer, husband and father,” Edwards said. “I can think of no better way to honor his memory and service than renaming this portion of Highway 126.”
Though Jones did not personally know Kilcullen, her husband did get the chance to interact with him when he was training to be a 9-1-1 operator.
“It could have been my brother,” Jones said of the unforeseen tragedy that struck the Kilcullen family.
Jones said that though her husband is not a sentimental person, “he couldn’t believe how nice, kind and considerate” Kilcullen was in training him.
Prozanski had the opportunity to work with Kilcullen when he was a city prosecutor and said Kilcullen “was a fine man and excellent officer.”
Even though Jones has not had any direct contact with the family, she has heard from city officials that the family is appreciative of the work she has done.
When asked if Jones wanted to meet the family, she said she would want to meet them when the signs are being put into place or unveiled.
“I don’t know what I would say. I would thank them. They’re never getting him back,” Jones said. “We need to protect the officers who protect us.”
A message that Jones has heard from citizens is that the renaming of the highway would take money away from other important, publicly funded state programs and projects, which is why she started to collect funds to minimize the cost for taxpayers.
As of Tuesday $1,655 was collected through the Officer Chris Kilcullen Highway Memorial Fund, which is set up at the Oregon Community Credit Union. This money is intended to be used for signage along the highway.
However, ODOT is not set up to receive donations for any projects.
“We may have to get a house bill so they can accept donations,” Jones said.
Jones purposely chose to set the highway memorial fund up with the same bank as the memorial account for the family.
If the Oregon Legislature approves the signs — but not the donations — the money will go to the family’s memorial account.