STUART, Fla. — A stretch of Interstate 95 in Martin County could soon be designated in memory of Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joseph Bullock, who was shot and killed in the line of duty earlier this year.
Bullock was shot by a driver he had stopped to help near mile marker 107 on Feb. 5.
"They miss him. I know it bothers many of them every day," FHP Maj. Robert Chandler said about Bullock's fellow troopers.
Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a bill to name the stretch of I-95 where Bullock was killed the "Trooper Bullock Memorial Highway."
"I stay in contact with Trooper Bullock's father, his family," Chandler said. "They really appreciate what's being done."
He has had a lot to do with memorializing state troopers in recent years through roadway designations.
In the last three years, Chandler said, he has helped secure honorary road designations for 32 fallen state troopers and a Broward County deputy.
It started when he was an investigator on a traffic crash in Broward County in 2006, killing Broward Sheriff's Office Deputy Ryan Seguin. He worked on a designation for Seguin and a trooper who also died in Broward County, Stephen Rouse.
"We did the ceremonies to recognize those two, but while I was [researching] it, I realized there were 29 other fallen state troopers since 1936 that never had anything done for them," Chandler said.
He is passionate about changing that.
"I just wanted to make sure that never again would a state trooper be killed in the line of duty, and 40, 50, 60 years go by without honoring that trooper in some way," Chandler said.
He said the roadway designations honor the FHP's history of sacrifice.
"It reminds the public when they drive through and they see these signs of what state troopers have given and the ones who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, like Trooper Bullock, to protect them," Chandler said.
The same bill also names his Fort Pierce FHP station after Bullock and includes an honorary road designation for Sgt. Tracey Vickers, who was killed in Orlando.
Martin County commissioners will vote Tuesday morning to approve a resolution to support the highway designation.
