On Friday, March 5, 2021, at approximately 8:20 a.m., the Gainesville Police Department’s (GPD) non-emergency dispatch number received a phone call notifying them that the memorial stone for GPD Officer Scott Baird, located at the 1800 block of NW 16th Terrace (Officer Scott Baird Boulevard), had been destroyed.

A GPD officer responded to the scene and discovered the stone had been smashed into several pieces.

The memorial stone was originally placed there by Gainesville neighbors a few years after Officer Scott Baird was tragically killed while trying to move a batting cage out of the roadway. GPD officers, family, and friends recently gathered on February 12, 2021 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Officer Baird’s line-of-duty death.