Upstate Warrior Solution (UWS) will unveil a portrait honoring Officer Allen Lee Jacobs of Greenville Police Department on Monday, March 18, the eighth anniversary of his line-of-duty death. The portrait will be the first hung in the new Blessed Are the Peacemakers Gallery at the Rupert Huse Veteran Center (RHVC), a resource hub serving both military veterans and first responders.
The portrait installation marks the expansion of the RHVC’s Hall of Heroes Gallery, which honors military service members of all eras with connections to the Upstate. The new gallery wing will honor local law enforcement killed in the line of duty. “There was no question that Allen Jacobs would be the first honored in the new gallery,” says Theresa Thompson, UWS’s COO and former law enforcement officer. “Allen served his country while in the Army because he valued freedom. He came back to his community as a police officer because he valued peace. We cannot and will not forget his legacy.”
Officer Allen Jacobs’ line-of-duty death shook the Upstate community in 2016. Jacobs was shot and killed while attempting to interview a teenager who was a self-professed gang member and who had recently been released from prison.
An initiative of UWS, the RHVC serves as a one-stop shop of resources for veterans, first responders, and their families. “UWS has taken a collaborative approach to serving veterans for over ten years. We’re now taking the same approach for first responders,” says Catherine Pelicano, UWS’s Marketing Director. “These portraits not only honor the legacies of our local heroes, but they also show the intent behind the RHVC. We’re here to honor and serve our veterans and first responders and to make sure they have what they need to be healthy, happy, and whole.”
