Honoring our police officers
POSTED: May 14, 2008
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as “Police Week.”
Every year since, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington, D.C., to participate in a number of planned events which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
The first official memorial service took place on May 15, 1982.
On that date, approximately 125 people gathered in Senate Park to honor 91 law enforcement officers.
Over the past 44 years, we have honored thousands of law enforcement officers from around the nation.
Today, the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service has become one in a series of events which includes the Candlelight Vigil, which is sponsored by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and seminars sponsored by Concerns of Police Survivors.
Each year during National Police Week, thousands gather on the site of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., to salute all of America’s law enforcement heroes — past and present.
Ceremonies are held locally as well.
The Ontonagon County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police Wakefield Post hosted the 2008 Peace Officers Memorial Service this morning in Ontonagon.
The service honors fallen law enforcement officers from the Upper Peninsula, bordering Wisconsin counties, and the Ontario Provincial Police
Sixty-six local officers were honored, dating back to 1885.
The most recent U.P. officer on the roll call, John Weir of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Department, died in 2004, of injuries received in the line of duty in the 1970s.
Other officers in recent years include John Flagg, a senior constable with the Ontario Provincial Police, who was killed in 2003, and Sgt. Todd Stamper of the Crandon, Wis., police department, killed in 2000.
Four officers with ties to Dickinson County have died in the line of duty.
They include Carl Linderg of Iron Mountain (Detroit Post-Michigan State Police), Bert Pozza of Iron Mountain (Flint Post-Michigan State Police), Ralph Broullire of Iron Mountain (Bay City Post-Michigan State Police) and Kenneth Moraska of the Norway City Police Department.
Moraska was killed on May 23, 1971.
The memorial honors corrections officers, Michigan State Police troopers, Michigan Department of Natural Resources officers and U.P. natives who were killed in the line of duty at other agencies.
A different U.P. city hosts the service each year.
It is fitting that we recognize their contribution to our nation. Today’s Daily News includes a special section on pages 9-A and 10-A honoring local police agencies.
Since the first recorded police deaths in 1792, more nearly 17,000 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty.
The Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., has space for 29,233 names.
If officer fatalities continue to occur at the current annual rate (167 per year), the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial will reach its engraving capacity around 2050.
According to recent studies, more officers are killed on Wednesday in felony related incidents, than any other day of the week.
The fewest number of felonious fatalities occurred on Sundays. More officers are killed between 10:01 p.m. and midnight than during any other two-hour period.
On average, more than 58,066 law enforcement officers are assaulted each year, resulting in some 16,494 injuries. Further, based on a study by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, less than one-tenth of one percent of all contacts between police and the public (i.e., traffic stops, pedestrian stops, calls for help, etc.) ever result in the use of any type of force.
In other words, police do not use force of any kind more than 99.9 percent of the time in the performance of their duties.
The deadliest year in law enforcement history was 1974, when 271 officers were killed.
The deadliest decade was the 1970s when a total of 2,240 officers died, or 224 each year.
The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center marked the single deadliest incident and the deadliest day in law enforcement history.
On that horrific day, 72 officers were killed responding to the terrorist attacks.
One of those officers was killed aboard downed Flight 93, which was diverted from its Washington, D.C., target by the bravery of passengers and crew.
The previous incident to hold this unwanted distinction occurred on Nov. 24, 1917, when a bomb exploded in a Milwaukee, Wis., police station house, killing nine officers.
