Last week was National Peace Officers Week. It is a time that the nation honors our fallen officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day in 1962. In that year, a joint resolution was also made in Congress that National Police Week should pay special recognition to the fallen officers throughout the nation. Last year there were 129 fallen law enforcement officers with one as closes as Lafayette Police Department.
On the National Police Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., the new names of the 129 will now be added totaling 21,541 officers from all 50 states who have died in the line of duty. Officials expect the wall as it is built today will be full by 2050 if things do not change. The event draws attendees upwards to 40,000 during the week all to honor those officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
According to national stats, there was a 10 percent decrease from 2016. Last year a total of 143 officers lost their life.
Here are some findings from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Forty-six law enforcement officers were shot and killed in 2017, a 31 percent decrease from the year before. Nine of them appear to have been killed in circumstances that they would consider an ambush.
The preliminary information indicates that the weapons used were 33 handguns, ten rifles, and two shotguns. In three of the handgun cases, it was the officer’s issued service pistol that was used by the suspect.
There were 46 traffic-related fatalities in 2017. There have been 31 automobile crashes, of which 14 were single-vehicle crashes. There have been 10 officers struck and killed and five officers who died in motorcycle crashes.
The preliminary information indicates that in at least seven of the automobile crashes, officers were not wearing their seat belt. One disturbing trend is that there were 140 law enforcement officer suicides in 2017.
President George H. Bush stated, “Carved on these walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream.”
Resources:
The names of the 360 officers added to the National Memorial this year can be found at LawMemorial.org/2018RollCall.
For a complete schedule of National Police Week events in Washington, D.C., visit LawMemorial.org/PoliceWeek.
An analysis of U. S. law enforcement fatalities between (2010-2016). March 2018.
nleomf.org/assets/pdfs/officer-safety/COPS3_Final_4-2-18.pdf
Honoring 360 American Law Enforcement Heroes in 2018. nleomf.org/assets/pdfs/fallen-officers-memorial-wall/added-in-2018/Roll-Call-pubyear-2018-updated-3-22-18.pdf
So whenever you see a peace officer, stop and thank them for what they do. They put their lives on the line everyday so we do not have to live in fear.
