Officers and administrators at the Franklin Police Department have found themselves in the unfortunate and sad position of mourning the loss of their brother in blue, Gary D. Falls.

Officer Falls spent nearly four decades protecting citizens, and his untimely death at the age of 63 was both a shock and great loss to the department and to the community.

As a field training officer, Falls had a hand in molding many other area cops, most notably our own Franklin Police Chief Phil Hardison.

Children who came up through Franklin Public Schools will remember him as a funny and engaging Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer who cared deeply about how their lives were going.

Though he was set to retire July 1, those close to Falls said he was desperately going to miss working with his “police family” and the citizens of Franklin.

His wife, children and grandchildren had been looking forward to spending leisure time with him, too.

Rest in peace, Officer Falls, and thanks for making our community a better place while you were here.