The Apopka Police Department will honor a police officer’s on-duty death with a special service and plaque dedication at the department on Monday, May 15, during National Police Week. The service will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Police officers, historians and surviving family and friends will attend the ceremony that will be held at the Apopka Police Department, 12 E. Sixth St., Apopka.
Apopka Police Officer Denson L. Hudson died on duty in 1941.
The plaque, to be placed near the police department entrance, will feature a portrait taken of Hudson prior to 1941 along with an American flag and the Apopka Police Department patch. Text on the plaque includes the date of his death and an explanation of his shooting.
Hudson and Police Chief Fred Risener investigated an open window at the Standard Oil fuel station back on March 18, 1941 when they surprised two suspects attempting to break open the safe. The parties exchanged gunfire.
Hudson ran to his vehicle to retrieve a weapon, when a bullet hit him in his back. Hudson died at Orange County General Hospital. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery and survived by his wife and five children.
The Hudson family had lived in Apopka for several years. Hudson worked with Apopka police for several months prior to his untimely death.
Hudson’s name is one of 20,000 names of law enforcement officials engraved in Washington D.C.’s National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. He also appears on the Officer Down Memorial website.
In Apopka, however, Hudson is most notably identified on a modest headstone at his own gravesite shared with his late wife, Clio, at Greenwood Cemetery.
More on this story will appear in the Friday, May 19 issue of The Apopka Chief.Â
