7 Fallen Michigan Officers Honored At National Police Week Memorial: Watch

WASHINGTON, DC — Two Detroit police officers and a Wayne State University police sergeant killed in the line of duty in 2016 were among seven officers from Michigan who were honored Saturday at the 29th Annual Candlelight Vigil at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. They were among 143 officers who died in 2016, and among 394 who were honored. The others died before 2016, but their names had never been added.

The vigil marked the beginning of National Police Week, May 14-20. Detroit Police Chief James Craig made remarks at the 2017 National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, noting that while honored to speak, “I do stand here with a heavy heart.”

“We in Detroit, have had eight police officers shot or killed in the line of duty in the last seven months,” he said. “This is unacceptable.”

Also unacceptable, Craig said, is silence from those who pledged to protect America’s peacekeepers during the 2016 election and after a year of violence directed at police officers. “Enough is enough,” he said, saying it is time to “speak with one unified voice” to protect the nation’s police officers.

The Detroit officers who were killed were Sgt. Kenneth Steil, who died Sept.17, five days after he had been shot; Officer Myron Jarrett, who died Oct. 28 after he was struck by a drunken driver while making a traffic stop; and Wayne State University Police Sgt. Collin Rose, who died Nov. 23, a day after he was shot while responding to an off-campus call. Also honored was Detroit Police Officer Sgt. Kevin Miller, who died of a heart attack during firearms training in Detroit.

Elsewhere in Michigan, officers who were killed in 2016 included Berrien County Security Supervisor Joseph Zangaro and Court Officer Ronald Kienzle, who were fatally shot by a defendant while they were escorting him from a hearing on July 11; and Branch County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Winter, who was thrown from his department horse during a Memorial Day parade.

Craig told the Detroit Free Press that the deaths of seven officers in a single year was “more than any of us can remember.”

Those names were read by Detroit Police Lt. Mark Young, vice president of the National Association of Police Organizations.

“It’s not easy to read the names of people you've known and cared about. And every one of these officers is a hero,” he said.

You can watch the candlelight ceremony here.

Image via Detroit Police Department Facebook page