In communities across the nation, ceremonies are being held during National Police Week to honor fallen law enforcement officers.   

Oregon’s annual tribute to honor police officers who have given their lives while serving the people of Oregon was held on May 6^th at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem, Oregon. The ceremony honored 167 officers who have given their lives while serving the citizens of Oregon during the last century.  Each of the fallen officer’s names is carved into the granite Oregon Memorial wall.  To read the names and stories of the fallen officers, click here.

Photo of the Oregon Memorial Wall courtesy of the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training

The public was invited to attend the formal ceremony that included a brief flag ceremony, a reading of the names of Oregon’s fallen police officers, and a 21-gun salute. Portland Firefighter Rick McCall, Station 2, a bagpipe member of the Portland Police Highland Guard, helped open the ceremony with the processional, “The Heights of Dargai.” The Portland Police Highland Guard, formed in 1998, includes bagpipers and drummers from the City of Portland Police Bureau, Portland Fire & Rescue, and the City of Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications. The band’s underlying mission is to honor and commemorate fallen police officers and firefighters, from throughout the Portland area and the Pacific Northwest.

Photos of the Portland Police Highland Guard courtesy of the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training

In 2009, two names of officers who gave their lives in the line of duty in Oregon were added to the Memorial wall during the Oregon Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony.  Woodburn Police Captain Tom Tennant and Oregon State Police Senior Trooper William Hakim lost their lives in the line of duty in December 2008 while handling a suspicious device at a Woodburn-area bank.
 
Across the nation on average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 53 hours. Since the first known line-of-duty death in 1792, nearly 19,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have made the ultimate sacrifice.

May 12, 2010