Blog: National Police Officers Memorial Day

The flags at the Law Enforcement Center fly at half-staff today in honor of fallen police officers.

In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls, as National Police Week. In 1994, President Clinton directed that flags on all government buildings be flown at half-staff in recognition of those law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the nation.

On average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 53 hours. Since the first known line-of-duty death in 1791, nearly 20,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. Their names are engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC.

In Wisconsin, more than 250 names are inscribed on the granite memorial on the Capitol square.

2011 was the most violent year on record for law enforcement officers killed. For the first time since statistics have been kept, more officers were murdered by assault than those killed responding to emergencies or other line of duty causes.

Please keep the nation's 900,000 law enforcement officers in your thoughts and prayers today and if you can, take a moment to thank them for their service.

National Law Enforcement Memorial