By Beau Yarbrough
Redlands Daily Facts, Calif.
REDLANDS, Calif. — Police officers are pushing the city of Redlands to acknowledge an officer died of cancer he contracted in the line of duty, and to approve a workers’ compensation claim he filed before his death.
“Police officers put their lives on the line every day and the last thing they need to worry about is that their spouse and children won’t be taken care of when they no longer can,” Jeff Frisch, president of the Redlands Peace Officers Association, told the Redlands City Council at its Tuesday, April 15 meeting.
Officer Seth Franklin joined the Redlands Police Department in 2018, after having served as a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputy.
Franklin, 34, was first diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma in September 2022, he said in a video posted in August 2024 on the RPOA’s YouTube page. The cancer later spread to his lymph nodes. Franklin went through a year of immunotherapy treatment, he said, and was declared cancer-free in February 2024.
But in July 2024, new cancerous tumors were discovered on his hips and spine, he said. His skin cancer had metastasized, spreading to other parts of his body.
Franklin died April 6 .
“My husband, Seth, was the kindest, most loving man, an amazing father, my best friend, and the biggest supporter of my photography dreams,” his widow, Ashley Franklin, wrote in a post on Instagram.
“He fought so hard. We did everything we could. But God had other plans, ones that we don’t understand, and ones that have left us with aching hearts and an unimaginable void,” she wrote. “Seth is no longer in pain. He’s at peace now, free from the suffering that weighed so heavily on him. Though we are heartbroken beyond words, we are thankful for every moment we had with him.”
Franklin grew up in Yucaipa, the second oldest of four children.
“He was the one who’d make everything fun,” his sister, Kameryn Goodin, said Friday. “He was always able to keep things light. We kept saying as we were planning his funeral that ‘man, if he was here, he’d find a way to make things fun.’ “
Franklin was always friendly and outgoing, she said.
“He could be a friend to everyone without changing who he was,” Goodin said.
Franklin played baseball and golf for Yucaipa High School . Even back then, he wanted to be a police officer, according to his sister.
“He was just really good at it,” Goodin said. “He’s so good with people: He could talk with anybody.”
His years-long struggle with cancer couldn’t dim his spirits.
“He never complained about it, even to the very end. And he was in so much pain,” Goodin said. “He was so sure he was going to beat it.”
When his illness meant he couldn’t serve as an officer, he made that work too, she said.
“HIs time at home, he spent every bit of it with his boys,” Goodin said. “He just made the most of it.”
Under California Labor Code section 3212.1, cancer that police officers and firefighters develop while serving in their departments is presumed to be a work-related illness if they can show they were exposed to a known carcinogen.
Franklin had filed worker’s compensation claims related to his injuries before his death.
“This claim was denied by the city, along with a 2024 claim when his cancer returned at Stage 4,” Frisch told the council Tuesday.
Franklin also had metal bolts in his spine, repairing damage that Frisch said was another work-related injury. At the time of his death, Franklin had been involved in a more than two-year legal battle seeking compensation for his medical bills.
The skin cancer Franklin developed seems to have an obvious connection to his work, Frisch said on Friday.
“He developed melanoma on his left arm, which is the part that hangs out of a cop car all day” as officers drive through the community, Frisch said. Franklin also was focused on community policing, putting him out in Southern California sunlight, interacting with homeless residents and other members of the community throughout the workday, according to Frisch.
The city finding that it was liable for his injuries “would provide a small amount of income and insurance benefits for his wife and two sons, ages 4 and 2,” Frisch said at Tuesday’s meeting. “Now that Seth has passed away, his wife and boys are left with no income and no health insurance.
“I’m sure that you’re aware that there are numerous angry police officers that sit behind me, but we’re not here to point fingers, place blame or cast judgement, but to simply ask that we reevaluate our systems, processes and the way we treat our employees,” Frisch said. “I’m here to request that we all realign our priorities so that this tragic situation never happens to another family.”
At the time of his death, Franklin served as treasurer of the RPOA.
Councilmember Eddie Tejeda seemed moved by Frisch’s comments on Tuesday.
Near the end of Tuesday’s meeting, he requested that city staff present “some sort of improvement, change or policy suggestion whereby we can make improvements to healthcare related to the situation that happened with Officer Franklin.
“I’d hate to see us not do something as a community, as an organization, to support any member of our staff,” Tejeda said.
A majority of council members agreed.
“We can’t do enough for our police officers,” Councilmember Paul Barich said at the end of the meeting. “His family needs to be taken care of.”
According to Frisch, the council is not behind the city’s rejection of Franklin’s claim. Instead, worker’s compensation claims are handled by city staff, using guidelines set forth by previous council decisions.
“The City Council have been very supportive,” Frisch said Friday.
There are two separate crowdfunding campaigns following Franklin’s death:
- A Peace Officers Research Association of California fundraiser to help defray Franklin’s medical and funeral costs can be found at PORAC.org/fundraiser/redlandspoa_sfranklin/
- Goodin set up a GoFundMe campaign to financially support Franklin’s widow and two sons after his death: GoFundMe.com/f/f8rhq4-love-for-the-franklin-family
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