CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The idea of renaming a Charleston street after a fallen city police officer is one step closer to reality.
The city council’s Planning, Streets and Traffic Committee passed a resolution Monday evening to give Garrison Avenue the honorary name of Patrolman Cassie Johnson Avenue. The resolution now heads to the full city council, which meets next week.
Johnson, 28, was shot on Garrison Avenue while responding to a call on December 1 and died in the hospital two days later. She grew up in Charleston’s Westmoreland neighborhood, which surrounds Garrison Avenue.
Mary Beth Hoover, a councilwoman representing Ward 9 and the chair of the Planning, Streets and Traffic Committee, told MetroNews affiliate 580-WCHS in Charleston, fellow councilwoman Shannon Snodgrass and Charleston Police Department (CPD) Lt. Jamey Noland have led this project.
Noland worked with Johnson on CPD’s D-Shift, as Johnson patrolled the Westmoreland neighborhood daily.
“It’s a wonderful way to honor her and honor the community she was serving,” Hoover said.
She added that she fully expects it to pass through council next Monday and from that point be close to an unveiling. Hoover, who has been chair of that committee for two years, said there could be an unveiling and ceremony within a couple of weeks.
The renaming process of the near 2-mile road was started two weeks ago when the Municipal Planning Commission received a submission from Snodgrass on behalf of Johnson’s shift.
“It’s fantastic to watch and know,” Hoover said of the city’s togetherness. “We all love Charleston but in the moments like this when we all pull together, you get to see our true nature. It’s great to see.”