Roseville Police Honor Officer’s 30th Anniversary End of Watch

On February 10, the Roseville Police Department in Northern California commemorated the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of Officer Mark A. White, a dedicated three-year veteran of the force fondly remembered by his colleagues and the community he served for his unwavering commitment, compassion and lighthearted personality.

He was also a dedicated husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend. “Mark wasn’t just a good cop — he was a great cop. He was tough but fair. He loved to play practical jokes on his friends and co-workers and was a good sport when someone got one up on him,” reflects his widow, Liz White-Dibb, his high school sweetheart, with whom he had two children. “Mark loved the city of Roseville and the citizens he swore to protect. His last assignment was Community Oriented Policing, and he loved it. He was assigned a bicycle and went out each day trying to make Roseville a better place to live.”

Since White’s death, the Roseville P.D. has remained steadfast in its commitment to honor his memory each year and show support to the loved ones he left behind. This year, the Department added to its annual commemorations by introducing a special badge and sending its largest contingent of officers ever to attend National Police Week alongside White-Dibb and her daughter, Whitney. PORAC is honored to share how the Department continues to remember White, as well as White-Dibb’s journey as a survivor spouse, her advocacy work on behalf of families of the fallen and her special relationship with her blue family in Roseville.

Tragedy Strikes in Roseville

White, a lifelong Yuba City native, began his law enforcement career as a teenage cadet with the Yuba City Police Department. In 1987, he became a deputy for the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office, serving as a member of the Special Enforcement Detail and a diver with the Search and Rescue Team. He lateraled to the Roseville P.D. in 1992, where he worked as a neighborhood officer, focusing on community-oriented policing in his final years on the job.

On February 10, 1995, Roseville resident Shawn Brackin walked into the front lobby of the city’s police department with the intent of committing suicide by cop, pulling a gun on a police clerk and a civilian. The clerk yelled for assistance, prompting six officers, including White — who was off duty, in plain clothes and preparing to leave for the day — to respond with their weapons drawn. An officer fired, striking Brackin. At the same time, White was fatally shot in the chest by another officer who mistook him for a second gunman. White was 30 years old and left behind his wife, Liz, their 4-year-old son, Matthew, and unborn daughter, Whitney.

The Department reported that funeral services for White drew 2,000 mourners, including 1,500 uniformed law enforcement officers from across California. Hundreds of officers lined the parking lot and the street in front of St. Isidore’s Church in Yuba City, standing at attention for more than an hour before the service began. During the ceremony, then-Roseville Police Chief Thomas Simms delivered a moving eulogy, describing White “as an officer who loved his job so much that his own wife called him ‘Mr. Roseville.’” He went on to read condolences sent by President Bill Clinton to White’s family. The service was followed by a procession of 400 patrol vehicles and motorcycles to Sierra View Memorial Park in Marysville, where White was laid to rest.

Remembering a Hero

Since that tragic day, White has been memorialized in numerous ways by the Roseville community. The City honored him by building the Mark White Neighborhood Park in the Theiles Manor area where he served as an officer. In 2004, ACR 179 — a measure drafted by Assemblymember Tim Leslie — dedicated a roughly 3.5-mile stretch of State Highway 65, from Roseville to Lincoln, with commemorative freeway signs honoring his service and sacrifice.

The Roseville P.D. has honored White through several meaningful remembrances as well, including installing a decorative light pole at the former police station at 401 Oak Street after it had relocated to a new facility in the late ’90s, naming its new community and meeting room the Mark White Community Room and creating a memorial at the new station. The Department also posts remembrances and photos on social media and sends officers to National Police Week in Washington, D.C. When the Department moved to its current facility, it began honoring White’s memory each year by shining blue lights through the glass roof on the night of his line-of-duty death anniversary.

White-Dibb shares that she was consulted about the creation of the memorial within the public entrance of the new station by Sergeant Dave Buelow. “I was beyond happy to hear that Mark had not been forgotten by his Department and that they actually wanted my input on the design,” she says, adding that prior to this, she had lost contact with the Department for several years after Chief Simms retired. She traveled to Roseville from her home in San Diego (where she had relocated to in 1998) to meet with the sergeant as well as Simms and other officers. “I also met Captain Troy Bergstrom [now chief of the Department]. We had a long chat about how my biggest fear was that Mark would be forgotten, so this memorial meant so much to me,” she adds. “I had feared Mark’s Department had already forgotten him, but Captain Bergstrom assured me at that time that Mark will never be forgotten, and that this memorial will be a great reminder to the public as well.”

The memorial helped White-Dibb reconnect with her blue family once more. “This is when I felt like I was part of the Roseville P.D. again. I was in contact with someone at the Department on a regular basis, and I loved it, as I felt Mark’s memory was alive again,” she remarks. The memorial was unveiled in a small gathering with close family and White’s police colleagues on February 10, 2020, just before the COVID pandemic shut down the world.

A Bittersweet Anniversary

In honor of the 30th anniversary of White’s end of watch, the Department introduced commemorative badges in White’s honor and authorized them for uniform wear for the remainder of the year. “When Chief Bergstrom mentioned a 30th anniversary badge — an idea designed and pushed forward by Officer Matthew Gassaway — I was surprised to say the least,” White-Dibb says. During a visit to Roseville on February 10, Chief Bergstrom presented the badges to her and Whitney, and to make it even more meaningful, retired Chief Simms pinned the badges on each of them. “I’m not sure if it’s kismet or just coming full circle because, back in the day, family members did not pin badges on officers, the chief did. These badges are just another way the Department continues to honor Mark,” she adds.

White-Dibb says that many survivors who attend National Police Week will often wear their spouses’ badge around their neck. “I was so proud to wear this badge and was even asked about it a few times. I proudly told them the story,” she says. “And then to see the Roseville officers wearing the badge just made me beam!”

The Department sends officers to Police Week each year to honor its fallen, and this year it was done on a grand scale, with nearly 30 officers, including Chief Bergstrom, along with spouses and supporters joining White-Dibb and Whitney in D.C. On May 13, the Roseville contingent met with California Representative Kevin Kiley at the U.S. Capitol, where he thanked them for their service and presented White-Dibb and Whitney with a unique token of remembrance: an American flag that had flown over the Capitol. “I had emotions of pride and of profound sadness at the same time,” White-Dibb says of the presentation. “The pride is obvious, but the sadness is hard to explain because there is that part of you that feels like this is not the way our life was supposed to happen. And yes, 30 years later, I still get those feelings. A police widow’s journey is difficult and, in many ways, indescribable.” Following the presentation, Kiley hosted a catered lunch for everyone in attendance on the speaker’s balcony.

Reflecting on the ongoing support she has received, White-Dibb notes that if it weren’t for Sergeant Buelow reaching out to her about his memorial idea, she’s not sure she’d have the connection she has now with the Department. “The support I receive from Roseville P.D. is beyond words, and I must credit Chief Bergstrom, as he is truly a man of his word,” she says. “I completely understand how life goes on. I do not wish my journey on anyone, but having Roseville P.D. continue to honor Mark and support my kids and me makes me so grateful. Whitney and I have become friends with so many of the officers who accompany us in D.C. each year. Between Chief Bergstrom and Captain Jeff Beigh, they’ve shown me how a Department honors their officers, and I’ve never been more grateful. Yes, I am so incredibly grateful!” 

Read “Becoming a Survivor and an Advocate” to learn more about Liz White-Dibb’s journey as a survivor spouse, her advocacy work on behalf of families of the fallen and more.