May 15, 2020 – Firefighters and local elected officials joined local law enforcement officers, Hopkins County Marine Corps League and American Legion members Friday morning downtown as they observed National Peace Officers Memorial Day.
Held during National Police Week, National Peace Officers Memorial Day is a time to honor those law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.
The holiday was created on October 1, 1961, when Congress authorized the president to designate May 15 to honor peace officers. John F. Kennedy signed the bill into law on October 1, 1962, for May 15 of each year to be designated as “Peace Officers Memorial Day” and the week in which it falls as “Police Week.”
Read at the observance on Celebration Plaza Friday was the proclamation issued May 8 by President Donald Trump affirming May 15, 2020, as Peace Officers Memorial Day and designated May 10-16, as Police Week. In the document Trump pledged to “honor of our hardworking law enforcement officers” by lighting the White House in blue on May 15, 2020.
Trump also called upon “all Americans to observe Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I also call on the Governors of the States and Territories and officials of other areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day. I further encourage all Americans to display the flag from their homes and businesses on that day.”
Local officers and firefighters lined the sidewalk to the flag to pay honors to their fallen brothers and sisters. The Marine Corps League and American Legion lowered the flags at Hopkins County Veterans Memorial in honor the law enforcement officers who have fallen, or suffered permanent disabilities, in the line of duty to serve and protect their communities. The US flag in the center of on Celebration Plaza was lowered as Taps was played.
