The End of Watch Call or Last Radio Call is a ceremony in which, after a police officer's death (usually in the line of duty but sometimes from illness), the officers from his or her unit or department gather around a police radio, over which the police dispatcher issues one call to the officer, followed by a silence, then a second call, followed by silence.
An example:
Radio 5021 David …No answer 5021 David …5021 David out of service. Gone but not forgotten."[1]
Sometimes the dispatcher will mention the officer's honors and may add other words in memoriam.
In some cases the call is made twice, once immediately after the officer's death, then one more formally closer to the date of or actually at the officer's funeral. [2]