JPD honors fallen officer with Sea of Blue, courtroom naming

Sgt. Warren Olden served in the Jackson Police Department for nearly 30 years, more than half of that as the bailiff in Jackson City Court.

“He spent 15 years with us in the courtroom,” said Jackson City Judge Blake Anderson. “He protected me, the court workers and the people who came in here every day, and he did a good job.”

Olden’s watch ended on Jan. 8, 2024, when he had a heart attack that morning before court proceedings began and was later declared dead at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.

A year after his passing, JPD and neighboring law enforcement agencies, honored Olden’s memory with the Sea of Blue procession starting at the Carl Perkins Civic Center, weaving through parts of East, Midtown and Downtown Jackson and coming back at the City Court building.

When the group arrived at the courthouse, an honor was officially bestowed upon Oldham’s memory.

The courtroom in which he served since the court had moved to the new building a few years ago was named in his honor.

“Sgt. Olden was one of the good ones,” said JPD Chief Trey Corley. “Here we are a year later, and I think about him every day and think about his family and how they miss him.”

Anderson said he thinks about and misses Olden every day too.

“He was my friend, and we’d talk all the time about stuff outside this courtroom,” Anderson said. “He was a good man and a good policeman.”

The Sea of Blue honor was scheduled to happen last year in the days following Olden’s passing, but the winter storm that came in a few days later and shut down Jackson and most of West Tennessee for a week - some areas more - delayed that, and officials decided it would be best to wait for the anniversary of his death.

“I’m glad we could name the courtroom after him tonight too,” Anderson said.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news