Long Beach Youth Activities &
Officer
Daryle
Black
Daryle Black
Daryle Black Memorial Park, Long Beach
Essay Contest
Information about the Essay Contest will be posted soon.
Daryle Black Memorial Fund
Donations may be made in Black's memory to the Long Beach Youth Activities and D.A.R.E. Inc., Daryle Black Memorial Fund. Checks should be mailed to: Long Beach Police Dept., Youth Services Division, 1957 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90806. (D.A.R.E. tax identification number is 33-0342399.)
Officer Daryle W. Black
Long Beach Police Department
Long Beach Police officer Daryle Black, 33, was dedicated to changing the lives of at-risk youth. His vacations were spent helping people he had arrested; he concentrated on kids drawn into the gang life. So, his death at the hands of a gang member was especially bitter for loved ones and colleagues.
At about 11 p.m. on April 29, 2000, Detective Black and his partner, Rick Delfin, stopped their unmarked police car behind a double parked vehicle belonging to reported gang members. Seeing the detectives stop their car and realizing they had been seen, one gang member fired more than 30 shots with a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle at the unsuspecting detectives, who were both wearing body armor. The detectives never exited their vehicle and were unable to return fire. Officer Black was shot twice in the head and died the following day at a nearby hospital. Officer Delfin was shot once in the head and leg; he survived his injuries.
"Daryle was determined to make a difference with the youth of our community,'" Police Chief Jerome Lance said. "He was a mountain of a man with a gentle heart.'"
Black was the first officer shot to death in Long Beach in almost 25 years.
The Daryle Black Memorial Park opened for public use in the summer of 2006. The 0.11-acre mini park located in Central Long Beach, includes a playground, picnic tables, benches, drinking fountain, turf, trees and a memorial statue in tribute to Officer Daryle W. Black. The statue, purchased for the public by the Long Beach Police Officers Ass'n, shows Officer Black seated, keeping watch over neighborhood children (whose company he dearly enjoyed).
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