National Police Week!
The Memorial Service began in 1982 as a gathering in Senate Park of approximately 120 survivors and supporters of law enforcement. Decades later, the event, more commonly known as National Police Week, has grown to a series of events which attracts thousands of survivors and law enforcement officers to our Nation’s Capital each year. Every May 15 by proclamation of the President is Peace Officers Memorial Day. We’ve decided to pay our respects as well.
History
May 15. The National Peace Officers Memorial Day/week honors all the local, state, and federal law enforcement officers who serve and protect; the flag was lowered to half-staff in honor of those who have fallen. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Marc I. Lane)
National Police Week was established in when President John F. Kennedy assented with Congress and signed a proclamation designating May 15 of each year as Peace Officers Memorial Day. Est. October 1, 1961. At that time, Congress asked the president to designate May 15 as a day to honor peace officers. On October 1, 1962, John F. Kennedy signed the bill into law. In 1994, Bill Clinton made an amendment through Public Law 103-322 that directed the United States flag be flown at half-staff on May 15.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. features the names of more than 19,000 law enforcement officers which have been killed in the line of duty.
National Police Week has since grown from a small group of 125 into an important event that is attended by up to 40,000 officers and survivors form all around the world. Agencies participate in honor guard competitions, a pipe and drum procession, survivors’ seminars, baseball games and the annual candlelight vigil. The institution of law enforcement has progressed tremendously over its short history, as the ideals of courtesy, service and professionalism have been advanced and adopted within departments and officers. While police often bemoan the lack of respect they perceive from the public, events like National Police Week are positive reminders of the support that they enjoy from the communities they protect and support.
Working as a police officer is not just a job. It’s a calling. If you have somebody in your family who puts their life on the line everyday for the better of their community, please take this time to appreciate them & their brave friends for laying it all on the line. Officers take an oath to serve and to protect their communities no matter the cost. All officers sacrifice holidays, weekends, evenings, and time with their families. They sacrifice their emotions and even, to some extent, their humanity. And some give all, even their lives, in service to others. Every month of May, police and families of fallen heroes from all over the world converge on Washington, D.C. to pay honor and respect to those law enforcement officers and special agents who lost their lives in the line of duty. National Police Week reminds us all of the tremendous sacrifice those who choose careers in criminal justice and criminology may be called to make, and gives the nation an opportunity to appreciate all of those who answered the call to stand firm on the thin blue line.
