HK Tactical Rifle Training :
International Law-Enforcement Officer's Memorial :
This page is dedicated to all the men and women who have fallen in service around the world - and to their families, friends and partners. To those who gave their all...we salute you.
...We shall not forget.
Additional pictures will be added here shortly, from Police Week, 2001 and the NLEOM 13th Annual Candlelight Vigil at Judiciary Square (13th May), and 20th Annual National Peace Officer's Memorial Service in Washington D.C. (15th May, with President George Bush as guest speaker) as pictured above.
In the United States alone :
1) There are approximately 675,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States. About 10 percent of them are female.
2) Each year there are approximately 33 million crimes committed in the United States, an average of one crime every two seconds.
3) Crime fighting has taken its toll. Since the first recorded police death in 1794, there have been more than 14,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
4) A total of 1,659 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the last 10 years, an average of one death every 52 hours or 166 per year. There were 161 police deaths in 1995.
5) On average, more than 65,000 law enforcement officers are assaulted each year and some 23,000 are injured annually.
6) The deadliest year in law enforcement history was 1974 when 268 officers were killed. The deadliest decade was the 1970's when a total of 2,182 officers died, or 218 each year. That figure has dropped dramatically in the 1990's to 152 per year.
7) The deadliest day in law enforcement history was November 24, 1917, when nine Milwaukee (WI) police officers were killed in a bomb blast at headquarters, and a 10th officer from the Columbus (OH) Police Department was shot and killed.
8) New York City has lost more officers in the line of duty than any other department, with 526 deaths. California has lost 1,176 officers, more than any other state. The state with the fewest deaths is Vermont, with 15.
9) There are 805 federal officers on the Memorial, 232 correctional officers and 18 military law enforcement officers.
10) There are 102 female officers listed on the Memorial, only seven of whom were killed prior to 1970.
11) More officers have been killed in January (1,318) and December (1,309) than during any other months of the year.
12) During the last 10 years, more officers were killed on Fridays than any other day of the week. The fewest number of fatalities occurred on Sundays.
13) More officers were killed between 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. than during any other two-hour period over the past decade.
* Above taken from the pages of the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund.
Final Inspection :
The Policeman stood and faced his God,
which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
just as brightly as his brass.
�Step forward now, Policeman.
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My church have you been true?�
The Policeman squared his shoulders
and said, �No Lord. I guess I ain�t.
Because those who carry badges,
can�t always be a saint.�
�I�ve had to work most Sundays,
and at times my talk was rough...
and sometimes I�ve been violent
because the streets are awful tough.�
�But I never took a penny,
that wasn�t mine to keep...
though I worked a lot of overtime
when the bills got just too steep.�
�And I never passed a cry for help,
though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I wept unmanly tears.�
�I know I don�t deserve a place
among the people here.
They never wanted me around
except to calm their fear.�
�If you�ve a place for me here, Lord,
it needn�t be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But, if you don�t...I�ll understand.�
There was silence all around the throne,
where saints had often trod,
as the Policeman waited quietly
for the judgement of his God.
�Step forward now, Policeman,
You�ve borne your burdens well.
Come walk a beat on heaven�s streets.
You�ve done your time in hell.�
When God Made Peace Officers :
�A Peace Officer has to be able to run five-miles through alleys in the dark, scale walls, enter homes the health inspector wouldn't touch, and not wrinkle his uniform. He has to be able to sit in an undercover car all day on a stake-out, cover a homicide scene that night, canvass the neighborhood for witnesses, and testify in court the next day. He has to be in top physical condition at all times, running on black coffee and half-eaten meals. And he has to have six pairs of hands.�
The Angel shook her head slowly and said : �Six pairs of hands ... no way.� �It's not the hands that are causing me problems,� said the Lord, ��it's the three pairs of eyes an Officer has to have.� �That's on the standard model�???� asked the Angel.
The Lord nodded : �One pair that sees through a bulge in a pocket before he asks : �May I see what's in there, sir�???� When he already knows and wishes he'd taken that accounting job. Another pair here in the side of his head for his partner�s safety. And another pair of eyes here in front that can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say : �You'll be all right ma'am�, when he knows it isn't so.�
�Lord,� said the Angel, touching His sleeve, ��rest and work on this tomorrow.� �I can't,� said the Lord, �I already have a model that can talk a 250-pound drunk into a patrol car without incident and feed a family of five on a civil-service paycheck��
The Angel circled the model of the Peace Officer very slowly : �Can it think�???� she asked. �You bet,� said the Lord. �It can tell you the elements of a hundred crimes; recite Miranda warnings in its sleep; detain, investigate, search, and arrest a gang member on the street in less time than it takes five learned judges to debate the legality of the stop...and still it keeps its sense of humour�
This Officer also has phenomenal personal control. He can deal with crime scenes painted in hell, coax a confession from a child abuser, comfort a murder victim's family, and then read in the daily paper how Law-Enforcement isn't sensitive to the rights of criminal suspects.�
�Finally, the Angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Peace Officer. �There's a leak,� she pronounced. �I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model.� �That's not a leak,� said the Lord, ��it's a tear.� ��What's the tear for�???� asked the Angel. �It's for bottled-up emotions, for fallen comrades, for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the American flag, for justice.�
�You're a genius!� said the Angel.
The Lord looked somber : ��I didn't put it there.� He said.
- Author Unknown
