Roll of Honor

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Deputy Sheriff

Derrick Lee Whittle

Union County Sheriff's Office — Blairsville, GA

Accident

End of Watch September 18, 2011

Age 38

Tour of Duty 6 yrs

The Vigil Panel 160 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Derrick Whittle succumbed to injuries sustained three days earlier in an automobile crash at approximately 3:30 pm.

He was responding to a domestic disturbance involving weapons when his patrol car left the roadway and struck a tree near the intersection of Mt. Pleasant Church Road and Bowers Circle. He was transported to a local hospital before being flown to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he remained until succumbing to his injuries.

Deputy Whittle had served with the Union County Sheriff's Office for less than one year.

Survivors

Survivors include his wife, two children, and parents.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-GA-A6725ED9
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Whittle gave the Union County Sheriff's Office 6 years.
Thank you for your service to the Blairsville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Whittle.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Union County Sheriff's Office

Type Sheriff's Office

Location Blairsville, Union County, GA

Platform Identity ucso.union.ga.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 18, 2011

Tour of Duty 6 yrs

Age 38

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Cause Detail Automobile crash

Deputy Sheriff Derrick Lee Whittle is one of 10,095 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,587 officers honored here.

In GA, 263 of 903 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.9 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

Union County Sheriff's Office

of 1 officers

100% Accident

GA — Statewide

263

of 903 officers

29.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,095

of 32,587 officers

31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Derrick Lee Whittle's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,559 (53.9%)

Accident

10,095 (31%)

Illness

3,037 (9.3%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

334 (1%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

How Derrick Lee Whittle Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service