Hoffman: Respect, honor, remember during National Police Officers Week

2022-05-14 09:22:52 By : Ms. Jenny Liang

On May 4, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed a Presidential Proclamation which designated May 15 as National Peace Officer Memorial Day and the week in which it falls as Police Week in “honor of those peace officers who through their courageous deeds have lost their lives or have become disabled in the performance of their duty.” A national Memorial Service began in 1982 as a gathering in Senate Park of approximately 120 survivors and supporters of law enforcement. Decades later, the event, more commonly known as National Police Week, has grown into a series of events which attracts tens of thousands of survivors and law enforcement officers to our Nation's Capital each year. This year, May 11-17 has been designated as National Police Week with the 34th Annual Candlelight Vigil taking place on May 13 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

In October of 1991, President George H.W. Bush dedicated the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. If you have never been to the memorial, I highly suggest a visit. This beautiful memorial features a reflecting pool surrounded by walkways on a three acre park. Along the walkways are stone walls that are inscribed with the names of over 22,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. The memorial also features four bronze lions — two male and two female — each watching over a pair of lion cubs. A different quotation is carved below each lion: "It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived;” "In valor there is hope;” "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are as bold as a lion;" and “Carved on these walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream."

Every time I am in Washington, D.C., I visit the memorial to pay tribute to those who have lost their life in the name of public safety. Specifically, I go to panel 62-W:18 of the Memorial wall because that is where you will find the inscription that bears the name of Muncie Police Officer Gregg Winters. In 1990, Officer Winters was murdered in cold blood in the line of duty by a coward. I go there to pay my respects to Officer Winters for all he did to keep the citizens of Muncie safe.

From the archives: Fallen officer Gregg Winters honored 25 years later

A year or so ago, I read a disturbing news article. It reported that the Memorial wall is “running out of space for inscribed names decades earlier than expected.” This is alarming, tragic and unacceptable. According to a recent interview with "60 Minutes," FBI Director Christopher Wray said that in 2021, there was a 59% increase in the murders of police officers. In 2021, 73 officers were murdered: 62 of which were fatally shot with a firearm. Wray has sad that “violence against law enforcement in this country is one of the biggest phenomena that doesn't get enough attention. Last year, officers were being killed at a rate of almost one every five days…” Wearing a badge and performing your sworn duty to serve and protect should not make you a target for murder. The National Fraternal Order of Police estimates that as of April 1, 101 police officers have been shot in the line of duty including 17 fatally wounded thus far in 2022. This marks a 43% increase compared to the number of officers shot at the same time period in 2021 and a 63% increase compared to 2020.

I vividly remember April 9, 2020, when we learned of the murder of IMPD officer Breann Leath. Watching her funeral and seeing pictures of her young son broke my heart. I watched as people lined the streets of Indianapolis, during a worldwide pandemic, to pay their respects to a brave woman they most likely never even met. That speaks volumes about Officer Leath and those like her who answered the call of duty to become police officers. Police officers are referred to as peace officers because they keep the peace in a civilized society. Long ago it was written in the New Testament that “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

The killing of our police officers cannot be tolerated and it must come to an end. Police officers have the absolute and unconditional right to go home to their family at the end of their shift. Police officers wear the badge because it is their duty, their calling, their noble purpose to serve and protect. Their hearts are filled with the same selfless courage, written about long ago: “No greater love has a man than this — that he should lay down his life for his friends.” We as a community should honor the fallen by pledging to never forget the officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Sadly, violent crime across the board is on the rise. FBI statistics show that in 2020, there was a 29% increase in murder in the United States, nearly 5,000 more people were killed than the year before. Director Wray believes there are a variety of causes for this increase in violent crime including: “more and more juveniles committing violent crime,” “interstate gun trafficking” and the “alarming frequency of some of the worst of the worst getting back out on the streets.”

Every day, police officers across this great country battle against the enemies of life and liberty, security and justice. Peace Officer Memorial Day is a day that reminds us that we must never take our life and liberty, our peace and security, for granted. The officers we honor gave their lives so that these values will endure forever.

As prosecuting attorney, I see firsthand the dedication and the courage of police officers. I see the daily sacrifices they make to protect the people of this great community. The United States Supreme Court once said that police officers are “the foot soldiers of an ordered society.” Police officers are peace keepers, the guardians standing between the innocent and violence and lawlessness, and sentinels who see evil coming from a far and lead the charge to look for good. They are the “Thin Blue Line” that stands tall to separate law and order from chaos. Police officers routinely risk their lives in the high stakes gamble of protecting society. They do a job that we all want and need done though very few of us possess the bravery and skill to do. And the amazing thing is, they do this job and ask for little in return.

To our law enforcement: I say thank you for your service. I am eternally grateful for the job that you do in enforcing the law and keeping people safe. May God bless and watch over each of you. I have a challenge to all my fellow citizens: when you see a police officer or interact with one, please thank them for the job that they do for us. Because the bottom line is: without police officers and the increasingly dangerous work that they do we would live in a miserable state of anarchy, lawlessness, and violence.

Eric M. Hoffman is prosecuting attorney for the 46th Judicial Circuit of Indiana