Boulder Police Memorial to Fallen Officers

The Eric Talley Memorial Award was established in 2022 following the 2021 mass shooting at a Boulder King Soopers. Officer Eric Talley honorably lost his life responding to an active shooter at King Soopers on March 22nd, 2021. The gunman murdered nine innocent civilians before Officer Eric Talley and other officers arrived on scene. Officer Talley was killed while risking his life to protect other innocents that were still in the store. Shortly after, officers wounded the gunman, and no additional lives were lost before taking the gunman into custody.

Officer Eric Talley was known for his willingness to put the needs of his co-workers above his own and assist in any way possible both at work and outside of work.

The Eric Talley Memorial Award is presented annually to one department member who frequently exceeds expectations when helping others within the department both professionally and personally. Department members nominated for this award will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Exceeds expectations when helping others within the department
• Being there for department members both personally and professionally
• Placing the needs of the team above their own needs
• Making sacrifices with the intent to aid other department members
• Acts that increase morale within the department

This is a department award nominated by both commissioned and non-commissioned members and voted on by a committee comprised of one commissioned member, one non-commissioned member and a representative from Eric Talley’s family. If a representative of Eric Talley’s family is unable to participate, then a department chaplain or victims advocate can substitute.

The Beth Haynes Memorial Award was established in 1994 following the tragic loss of Officer Beth Haynes of the Boulder Police Department. On April 16, 1994, Officer Beth Haynes responded to a domestic violence call. The man held a friend at gunpoint during a terrifying car ride and then tried to blast his way into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment. Police raced to the scene and when Officer Haynes confronted the crazed man in the parking lot, a shootout occurred and the 26-year-old officer was killed. Moments later the gunman committed suicide.

This is the only countywide award nominated by law enforcement officers and victim advocates and voted on by their peers. The Beth Haynes Memorial Award is viewed as one of the most prestigious annual awards given in Boulder County.

Law enforcement officers are nominated for the award based on the following criteria:

• History of service to victims
• Knowledge of the dynamics of domestic violence and proper investigative techniques
• Guidance provided to fellow officers on domestic violence issues and cases
• Networking and problem solving around domestic violence issues with other agencies

Since 1994, there have been over 110 different officers nominated for the award from nine different law enforcement agencies. The award is given each year in October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Previous award recipients include Officers, Detectives, and Deputies from the Longmont Police Department, the Broomfield Police Department, the Boulder Police Department, the Boulder Sheriff’s Office, the Lafayette Police Department and the Louisville Police Department.

Boulder’s longest unsolved homicide: Who killed Officer Elmer Cobb?

In November 1923, 45-year-old Boulder police officer Elmer Cobb was shot while walking to work. He was found behind a ground-level billboard at 1006 Pearl Street, in uniform and critically injured. He died an hour or two later.

Everyone seemed to have an opinion as to who murdered the man, including District Attorney Louis Reed. “Cobb was killed because he knew too much,” he said. “There were men in Boulder who wanted to get him out of the way, and we believe they did.”

Based on hearsay, the district attorney quickly identified his two main suspects — Boulder Police Chief Claude Head and an alleged “hit man,” Norman “Spookey” Drake.

Half of Boulder’s population demanded the men’s arrests, while the other half disagreed. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office intervened and threw both Chief Head and his “hit man” into jail, in the basement of the county courthouse.

Officer Cobb’s death is Boulder’s longest unsolved homicide.

District Attorney Reed told newspaper reporters that Boulder was “a hellhole of protected vice, graft, and crime.” Cobb’s family agreed, stating that the officer had said he would be willing to go before a grand jury and tell what he knew about corruption in Boulder. Cobb never got that chance.

The officer’s murder came during the early years of national Prohibition, when illegal liquor manufacturers paid bribes for their protection. Boulder was no exception. Cobb likely heard the rumors that had spread around town — that a city truck was being used to haul sugar beets (the liquor’s main ingredient) to an undisclosed still. Meanwhile, open hostility had developed between the chief and his entire force of five officers under his control.

The five men, including Cobb, had asked Boulder’s city manager to fire the chief, as they believed he was aligned with the illegal liquor activity. The city manager refused and, instead, fired the five officers for insubordination. Then, the manager reinstated all but Cobb, whose murder occurred while he was fulfilling his last few days of duty. After a coroner’s inquest concluded that Cobb’s death came from “gunshot wounds inflicted by a person or persons unknown,” the murder investigation dragged on for nine weeks. A witness, E.A. Harris, came forward and agreed to testify that he was “behind the billboard with a woman” the night before the murder. Harris told the district attorney that he had overheard Chief Head tell Drake (the alleged hit man), “Make a clean job of it,” and “Be sure and get him this time.” The prosecution expected the woman to corroborate, and her testimony to become its “ace card.”

In January 1924, District Attorney Reed charged both Chief Claude Head and Norman “Spookey” Drake with Cobb’s murder. Drake, it was noted, was “in a nervous condition bordering on lunacy as a result of being given truth serum.” In contrast, Chief Head wore his uniform in jail and claimed he was “as innocent as a baby.” Visitors brought him chocolates, cigars and flowers. District Attorney Reed scheduled the arraignment hearing for the morning of Feb. 4, 1924. When 1,000 local residents showed up, the judge ordered everyone out of the courthouse and rescheduled the case for the afternoon. Then he instructed the bailiff to close the doors as soon as seats were filled.

Those in attendance were in for a surprise, as the district attorney suddenly moved for dismissal due to lack of evidence. Drake was able to prove that he wasn’t in Boulder at the time of the murder, and the testimony of witness E.A. Harris was refuted by his female companion.

Reporters rushed from the courtroom to telephone the outcome to their newspapers. After the men’s release, Drake disappeared into the crowd. Head hired a new police force and stayed in the position of chief of police for several more years. Cobb’s grave is marked with a flat stone, behind a larger family memorial, in Green Mountain Cemetery. His widow, Bertha, later moved to California and remarried.

Before Bertha left, she filed for state compensation, but her claim was denied when the state investigators declared there was “not any presumption that Cobb’s death arose out of his employment.” The Boulder Police Department, though, acknowledges Cobb as one of its officers who gave his life in the line of duty.

You can read the full article at https://boulderreportinglab.org/2026/04/28/boulders-longest-unsolved-homicide-who-killed-officer-elmer-cobb/