Officer Douglas Scott Barney II - Unified Police Dept. of Greater Salt Lake - True Life Hero

Douglas Scott Barney II
- Jan. 17, 2016 -

(29305)

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Unified PD of Great Salt Lake Patch

Resided:	UT, USA
Born:	Jun. 03, 1971
Fallen:	Jan. 17, 2016
Race/Sex:	Caucasian Male / 44 yrs. of age
	Agency
Dept:	Unified Police Dept. of Greater Salt Lake 3365 South 900 West Salt Lake City, UT 84119 USA (385)468-9901
County:	Salt Lake
Dept. Type:	County/Police
Hero's Rank:	Officer
Sworn Date:	Unk
FBI Class:	Homicide - Ambush
Weapon Class:	Firearm
Agency URL:	Click Here
Badge:	96k
On The Job:	18 years

Bio: Doug was born on a military base in Taiwan to Douglas Scott and Darlene Heinz Barney. He was raised in Anaheim, CA, and worked at Disneyland as one of his first jobs. He attended Clara Barton Elementary School and Loara High School. He played water polo and was on the high school swim team. Just before his senior year, his family moved to Orem, Utah where Doug graduated from Orem High School. He loved the move to Utah and being able to ride dirt bikes daily in the hills behind his family home. After graduation Doug worked a series of jobs, mostly in the auto mechanics field like his father. He loved working on cars and raced his cars a couple of times at the old Bonneville Raceway.

Doug and his wife, Erika, grew up near each other in Anaheim and he liked to tell stories of how he had always had a crush on her. When Erika moved to Utah to attend BYU they continued their friendship and he tried his hardest to get her to commit to dating him (she had a habit of inviting her roommates along when he asked her out for pie.) In 1995 he showed up to her apartment unexpectedly and asked her to marry him. He asked again every day for several months until she finally accepted. Doug married Erika Gilroy on February 17, 1996 in his family home in Orem. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Jordan River Temple. Doug passed away one month before their 20th wedding anniversary.

After their wedding Doug told Erika that although he loved working on cars, it was a bit too lonely of a type of work for him. He didn't like being underneath the cars by himself all day long and would tend to move around looking for conversations with other mechanics. He admitted to his wife that he had always wanted to be a police officer and, with her blessing, began applying with different agencies. Doug was hired as a corrections officer with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office in December of 1998 and one year later was hired as a patrol officer. He worked primarily in Kearns and Magna, Taylorsville City, and Holladay City during his career. Doug earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah by taking two classes a semester while working full time to support his family. His degree was in Sociology with a Criminal Justice certificate.

Doug was a devoted husband and father who loved spending time with his family and talking about them when he couldn't be with them. He loved teaching his kids how to shoot guns, appreciate cars, and the basic approach to a few defensive control techniques. He loved music and listened to every conceivable type of music. For years he kept a cassette tape keyed up in his patrol car to Kenny Rogers' Long Arm of the Law, which he would sing loudly when a prisoner seemed especially sulky on the way to jail. The end result was usually that they would come into the jail laughing together.

Doug was well known for his boisterous personality. He was larger than life in every way. He was very funny and was often able to diffuse a tense situation with a perfectly timed joke. It is very hard for a criminal to consider violence while laughing. Doug's law enforcement brothers remember him for his signature greeting of, 'hey, brotha!' or 'hey, sista!', and an almost knocking-the-wind-out pat on the back.

Doug struggled with bladder cancer and the side effects of treatments and surgeries for many years. He was frustrated by the time it took him away from work and from his family, but had an amazing ability to stay positive and upbeat and even lighthearted about the challenges. His only desire, always, was to be able to get back to work and to take care of his family. Doug will be forever missed.

Survived by:

Erika Barney - Wife

Children
Meredith Barney, Jacob Barney, Matilda Barney

Fatal Incident Summary

Offender:	Cory Lee Henderson :: Caucasian / Male - 31 years old shot and killed during manhunt
	Pic 1
Location:	Holladay, UT USA Sun. Jan. 17, 2016
Summary:	Police Officer Doug Barney was shot and killed after responding to an accident near the intersection of 4500 South and 2300 East, in Holladay, shortly after 10:00 am. Upon arriving at the scene he observed a man and woman who had been involved in the crash walking away from the vehicles. As he attempted to make contact with the pair the male subject produced a handgun and shot him in the head, fatally wounding him. Other responding officers located the subject on a nearby street minutes later. An intense shootout occurred in which the man was killed and another officer was wounded. The female fled the scene and remains at large. It was later determined that the male subject had an extensive criminal history with active state and federal arrest warrants.
Source:	Website Click

Last Updated: Jul. 29, 2017