In Memoriam

Fallen Officer Jessica Nagle Wilson Remembered

Jessica Nagle Wilson, a Hazel Park police officer, was killed in the line of duty on July 28, 2002. While answering a complaint concerning an unleashed dog, she was reportedly shot by the dog’s owner. She is the first Hazel Park officer ever to die in the line of duty.
According to Hazel Park Police Chief David Niedermeier, Officer Wilson had no reason to believe that she was in danger of an ambush when she answered the call. Even after being mortally wounded, her skills as a police officer saved lives when she returned fire and wounded her assailant. He added that Officer Wilson was the best police officer he had ever seen.
In covering on the tragic event, the Detroit Free Press praised Jessica’s combination of mental and physical skills, while the Detroit News reported how her fellow officers wore black bands across their badges in her memory.
Jessica graduated from Ferris with honors in August 2000. She was the president of Lambda Alpha Epsilon, a national professional criminal justice fraternity. While attending our program she met and married another one of our students—Matthew Wilson, now a Detroit police officer.
He said it was love at first sight. The couple was married only two months before the fatal shooting. Rob Nagle, Jessica’s brother, also graduated from our program and is a Fraser police officer.
A scholarship in Jessica’s name is currently in the process of being established.

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