Holmdel Remembers Police Officers On National Police Week

HOLMDEL, N.J.—The Police Department here is asking residents to remember that this is National Police Week, which memorializes officers who have died in the line of duty. The week began Sunday and ends Saturday, May 21.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week, according to a statement on the township department's Facebook page.

Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others, the Facebook post says.

National Police Week offers honor, remembrance and peer support, while allowing law enforcement, survivors and citizens to gather and pay homage to those who gave their lives in the line of duty, according to information from the National Police Week website.

The site offered some perspective on the impact of the National Police Week program:

"Currently, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington, D.C., to participate in a number of planned events which honor those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice", the website states.

The Memorial Service began in 1982 as a gathering in Senate Park of approximately 120 survivors and supporters of law enforcement. Now National Police Week has grown to a series of events that attracts thousands of survivors and law enforcement officers to Washing, D.C.

The National Peace Officers Memorial Service, which is sponsored by the Grand Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, is one in a series of events that includes the Candlelight Vigil, which is sponsored by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) and seminars sponsored by Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.)

National Police Week draws in between 25,000 to 40,000 attendees. The attendees come from departments throughout the United States as well as from agencies throughout the world. This provides a unique opportunity to meet others who work in law enforcement, the website says.

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