Officer William “Steve” Whalen was shot during a traffic stop as the suspect opened fire with an AR-15 rifle from the rear window of a truck.
He was fatally shot on March 22, 1991, at the age of 38, after serving 15 years on the police force.
Too nice
Whalen’s mother, Helen Whalen, said in a 1991 interview that when her son set out to be a police officer that no one thought he could make it.
“They really didn’t think he could get on because he was too sheltered,” she said. “The police department said he was too nice to be on the department.”
Whalen was a church-going bachelor who didn’t drink, smoke or swear. And the police department wasn’t sure he could take life on the streets as a beat officer.
While Whalen was single, he had told friends that he planned to marry a woman he had been dating.
Whalen was a member of the Dayton Baptist Temple. He had been a deacon, the treasurer and even drove the Sunday school bus.
“He was just a gentleman all the way around,” Whalen’s mother said then. “He never gave us one minute of worry about anything.”
His life was police work
They say Steve Whalen wrote more traffic citations than anybody in the Dayton PD.
Another officer once said that in the time it would take Whalen to fill out a ticket, he would subdue a speeder with so much friendliness that the motorist would part saying, “Thank you, officer.”
During his career, he never took a day off work for an injury and only once took off for being sick.
While other officers moved around in the department, Whalen preferred staying on the streets of East Dayton. He liked being a patrolman, and he particularly liked working the East end.
On one occasion, when Whalen was being considered for a transfer out of the Second District, neighborhood leaders protested. The community liked having a cop on the beat who knew them.
Tragic ending
A man with a history of mental problems slammed a semi-automatic weapon through the back window of his pick-up truck and shot Whalen.
The suspect, Karl Ray Vultee, whom Whalen had pulled over because he matched the description of a person shooting off guns at a nearby motel, moved too quickly.
At the time of the shooting, Whalen was wearing a bullet proof vest.
Shortly before 10 p.m., Vultee, using a .223-caliber Colt AR-15, a semi-automatic assault rifle, fired several shots. Two shots hit Whalen in the head.
He died about eight hours later at Miami Valley Hospital.
It was the first time in 17 years that a Dayton police officer had been slain in the line of duty.
Authorities eventually arrested Vultee, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
Legacy lives on today
A number of prominent tributes have been created to honor Whalen’s legacy, including a policing award, a street name and a mural that was painted along that street.
Every year a Dayton police officer is honored with the Steven Whalen Memorial Policing Award at the Dayton Police Department Awards Ceremony. The award goes to the officer who has best exemplified community policing and the values of Whalen.
The police department accepts nominations from the community, and then the Steve Whalen Memorial Fund Committee chooses the winning officer based on those nominations.
It’s one of the most prestigious awards an officer can win.
Along with the policing award, a more prominent public tribute was the naming of “Steve Whalen Boulevard” in 1992, which connects Wyoming Street and Hamilton Avenue.
Credit: Lisa Powell
Credit: Lisa Powell
A mural depicting Whalen and uplifting messages was painted along the street in 2014. The mural contained his image and befitting words, including “love,” “support,” and “community.”
The mural was defaced with graffiti in 2020 and was replaced with new artwork that celebrates his legacy in 2021.
