22-02-2025
Galt Police unveil memorial of former officer Harminder Grewal
Feb. 22—A memorial statue bust of Harminder Grewal was unveiled on Thursday afternoon at the Galt Police Department, with family, friends and colleagues gathering to honor an officer who died in the line of duty.
The ceremony was the culmination of a community-wide effort to cement the legacy of a public servant who was named Officer of the Year just months before he was tragically killed in a vehicle collision.
A post of the Galt Police Department Facebook page read "This memorial proudly stands in front of our department building and serves as a lasting symbol of his unwavering commitment, courage, and the impact he made on our department and community. Officer Grewal's sacrifice will always be remembered, and his dedication will continue to inspire those who serve."
On Aug. 22, 2021, at 4:35 a.m., Grewal and fellow officer Kapri Herrera were traveling north on Highway 99 to assist with the Caldor Fire in El Dorado County when their patrol car was struck head-on by a Ford pick-up truck that jumped the concrete median from the southbound lanes near the Dillard Road interchange.
Both Grewal and Herrera had to be extricated from the vehicle, with the former taken to Kaiser's South Sacramento campus in critical condition. He succumbed to his injuries four days later. Herrera returned the department after a long recovery.
An officer with the Galt department for more than two years at the time of his death, Grewal was named the 2020 Officer of the Year in 2021.
He had also been recognized by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving California the prior March at an awards ceremony for helping remove 64 impaired motorists from the streets in 2020.
Grewal's name is on the Fallen Heroes Memorial outside Galt City Hall, along with Galt Police Officer Kevin Tonn and Sacramento County Animal Control Officer Roy Marcum, who were both shot and killed in the line of duty, Tonn in January 2013 and Marcum in November 2012.
