From a priest friend comes something that I think quite good.
As you can see from https://odmd.wordpress.com/, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Andrews, NC, is spearheading a dinner at which the heads of all law enforcement agencies in the region will be present. The actual dispatcher will be reading out the “Last Call” and “End of Watch”. The point is to raise the level of due honor in our culture for our finest who have laid down their lives for us. The one blog post is meant as a paradigm for similar events that we hope will spring up around the nation. The names include all fallen officers since the end of Police Week last year. Believe me, the dispatchers and officers are very appreciative of this honor being given to their friends and ours. The dispatcher said she would cry though the whole thing. The Chief of Police said that that was the point, as it is like a funeral.
If you would encourage your readers to reblog and retweet @officerdownmd and FB this event in an effort to have it catch on elsewhere, our law officers of the judicial and executive branches of government would be most appreciative. It is supremely easy to put on this kind of event as everyone immediately wants to help to make it work. Basically, you just have to mention it, and it takes off.
I would rather be anonymous as this is about our officers who have given their all. Thanks!
Done and done.
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Every year, our local Knights of Columbus host a Public Safety Appreciation/Blue Mass to honor the local police, firefighters, and Luke Air Force Base officers. The evening’s program includes a ceremony wherein we honor the men and women in those departments in Arizona who have fallen in the line of duty that year. It is very beautiful, solemn, and moving.
Many of the honored attendees tell us that we are the only organization they know of that honors public safety officers in this manner. It is especially welcome, considering the “black eye” the police have received this past year.
Thank you for sharing this, Father. My own dad was an officer who died in the line of duty (via a freak motorcycle accident) and I’m always thankful when people gather to honor fallen officers. It’s a hard profession that often comes at great personal risk.
As an aside, another organization that is incredibly helpful is honoring the officers in addition to their mission of aiding and comforting grieving families is COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors). COPS helped my grandparents heal after my father died and has been a continued source of healing for them over the years as it gave them a way to channel their grief into something positive as they became involved as volunteers in order to provide comfort and aid to other families. They eventually became organizers of their local group and my grandfather has been heavily involved in the national org as well.
I highly, highly recommend involvement with your local COPS group to anyone who is interested in helping the families of our fallen officers.