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Major Patrick O'Malley Tierney receives Robert J. Urie Award at Cabarrus County Peace Officers Memorial
Summary
At the 2026 Cabarrus County Law Enforcement Day and Peace Officers Memorial, Major Patrick O'Malley Tierney of the Concord Police Department received the Robert J. Urie award. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson delivered the keynote and family members placed white roses at a monument honoring officers who died in the line of duty.
Major Patrick O'Malley Tierney of the Concord Police Department received the 2026 Robert J. Urie award at the Cabarrus County Law Enforcement Day and Peace Officers Memorial, a ceremony honoring officers who died in the line of duty.
Sheriff Van Shaw opened the event, thanked local, state and federal officials in attendance and described the Robert J. Urie award as given to "an officer with at least 20 years of experience" who demonstrates "integrity and bravery," honoring Lieutenant Robert Jackson Urie, who was killed in the line of duty in 1972. Concord Police Chief Jimmy Hughes introduced Tierney and outlined a more than 27-year career that included leadership roles in patrol, special weapons and tactics and the department honor guard, promotions to sergeant and captain, an advanced law enforcement certificate from the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission, and service as a physical fitness instructor.
"It's important for local law enforcement to get together once a year and reflect on the work that we do and also remember those who died doing that work," Chief Hughes said in introducing the recipient. Major Tierney, accepting the award, thanked Chief Hughes, Sheriff Shaw and others and said the honor was "kinda surreal," noting he has attended the ceremony for most of his career.
U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson delivered the keynote address, praising law enforcement service and remembrance. "Our law enforcement officers risk their lives for the deepest sense of public service, and that is true service," Ferguson said, and noted recent officer fatalities in recent years as a reminder of the risks officers and their families face. Ferguson asked attendees to join a moment of silence for those killed in the line of duty.
Ferguson also named Cabarrus County officers being remembered at the ceremony, including William J. Kearns (Concord Police Department), Ralph Chandler Kennerly (Concord Police Department), William F. Probst (Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office), Martin Rubert Kaiser Sr. (Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office), Robert Jackson Urie (Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office), Roger Dale Carter (Kannapolis Police Department), Jackie Lamont Daniel (North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles Enforcement Section), and Jason Nicholas Schuping (Concord Police Department). Family members of those officers were invited to place white roses at the monument as part of the White Rose Ceremony.
Kannapolis Police Chief Terry Spry read the honor roll and led the white-rose presentation at the monument, followed by a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps. Kannapolis police chaplain Mike Roper gave the opening and closing prayers. Sheriff Van Shaw closed the ceremony by thanking attendees and wishing them safe travels.
The memorial is an annual observance in Cabarrus County; this year it combined the award presentation, keynote remarks and the traditional honor-roll and monument rites to recognize those who died serving the community.
