By Ashley McLeod, Staff Writer
May 12, 2015, 13:07
HOPEWELL — Police officers, elected officials, and community members from the Tri-City area gathered on Friday, May 8, to join with families of those 22 police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty during the 21st annual Tri-Cities Law Enforcement Memorial Breakfast. The deaths of the 22 officers honored at the memorial service spanned more than 100 years, beginning with an officer from the Petersburg High Constable’s office, who passed in 1881.
Representatives from Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Dinwiddie, Petersburg, Prince George and the Fort Lee Police joined with elected officials, from both the state and local level, to honor the fallen heroes and their loved ones.
“It is our duty as active law enforcement officers, to honor our brothers and to never forget the fallen,” said Hopewell Police Chief John Keohane during the ceremony.
On Oct. 1, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation to designate May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day, while also declaring the week this date falls on as National Police Week. The Memorial Day serves as a time to remember those who lost their lives protecting the community, and also as a time for families of those lost to honor their loved ones.
Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran spoke at the memorial, which was held at the Hopewell Moose Lodge.
“On the very first Peace Officers Memorial Day, President Kennedy declared a proclamation that peace officers have ‘an enviable and enduring reputation for preserving the rights and security of all citizens.’ Today we are here to remember those law enforcement officers.
Specifically, the 22 officers in the Tri-Cities area who made the ultimate sacrifice and duty of preserving those rights,” said Moran.
In the United States, there are 900,000 law enforcement officers, said Moran, and 19,000 are in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Moran also stated that on average, one officer dies in the United States every two and a half days.
“They chose those careers, knowing that every day might be the day they save a life, but they also understand that they might be asked to risk their own,” said Moran.
Moran added that even in the midst of the current national debate revolving around deaths of citizens at the hands of police, those who volunteered to protect the community still are there, doing just that.
“Even as that debate continues, thousands of police officers, deputies and state troopers get up every day and make sure our families, and our neighbors, are safe,” said Moran.
“Each of you is an exemplary individual, dedicating your life to safeguarding all of us,” Moran said to officers in attendance.
Among the officers honored were two officers from the Prince George Police Department, two from the Colonial Heights Police Department, one officer from Dinwiddie, seven from Petersburg, and also four Virginia State Police Officers, including Trooper Leo Whitt, who was recently honored in Prince George County with a bridge dedication.
The memorial included family members of those fallen officers, who lit candles one by one as the story of their loved ones passing was told to the crowd. The ceremony was also a way to show the families of the fallen that the community is behind them.
“As we mourn the loss of these officers, these 22 heroes, we also pay homage to all of those without their loved ones. To the parents, spouses, children, and siblings we are here to grieve with you. Our hope is that the family friends and colleagues of these fallen heroes could find peace in the certain knowledge that they died doing what they loved,” said Moran. “Despite the fact that these brave officers were taken from us, their legacies and contributions will always endure.”
