Credit: Upper Dublin Township Police/Facebook.
April 20 will forever be a day of revered remembrance for two Upper Dublin Township families: the Millers and Upper Dublin police.
It was that day, 20 years ago, a quarter after four in the morning, when a U.S. Air Force veteran, a little more than a quarter of a century with Upper Dublin Township Police Department, swerved out of the way of something on Dreshertown Road while responding to an accident.
His vehicle overturned and the officer whose face would light up a room was ejected. It was End of Watch for Sgt. James R. Miller.
On Saturday, his widow, Barbara, and family and friends joined together in a graveside service to remember Miller two decades after his death.
“Although time has passed,” wrote Upper Dublin Township Police on its Facebook page on Saturday about the father, brother, son and officer, “the impact that Sgt. Miller had on the Upper Dublin Township Police Department and the Upper Dublin community will never fade.”
Miller was 55 when he died in the crash on Dreshertown Road, near Welsh Road, while responding to the scene of another accident. He was a 28-year member of the police department, appointed in 1976, and a veteran of the War on Terrorism, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. At the time of his death, he left behind two children, two grandchildren, a mother and three brothers.
In September 2007, Montgomery County named Miller as its first Fallen Hero in a special plaque ceremony for its Fallen Hero Program.
“Losing a fellow officer is like losing a member of your family. We are here to remember and foster the sacrifice made by officers who put their communities first, and above all, we come together through this program to shed light on the daily sacrifice made by individuals within law enforcement. We are overjoyed to have this program within our county and to present Sergeant Miller with the first plaque,” said then-District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.
Former Montgomery County Commissioner, and current Governor, Josh Shapiro said at that ceremony that House Bill 1116 would designate a portion of Dreshertown Road, from Welsh Road to Limekiln Pike, as “Sergeant James R. Miller Memorial Highway” in his honor.
In the early 2000s, police cameras were not as prevalent, and there was no type of recording of the accident. Even eyewitnesses were absent, since the accident was in the early morning hours.
According to a 2022 article, former Upper Dublin Township Officer Lee Benson told journalist Jon Campisi that the township brought in a reconstructionist from Horsham Township to figure out what caused Miller’s accident. Benson had to break the news at the time to the press of Miller’s passing.
“It was always sort of a mystery what exactly happened,” Benson said.
Miller’s influence and passion for law enforcement went far beyond the boundaries of the township and southeastern Pennsylvania.
“Sarge,” wrote Second Lieutenant RJ Davis (Ret.) of the Fairfax County Police Department three years ago on the Officer Down Memorial site, “It’s hard to comprehend that I rode the Unity Tour in your honor the year after your death. So much has changed. I've retired and started a new chapter in my life, but each Christmas I hang a memorial ornament in your honor and I think of your family often.”
