To the editor:
Since Oct. 1, 1962 when President John F. Kennedy signed into law May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day, that week has been recognized as National Police Week. This is a time when Americans are given a chance to honor the extraordinary service given year after year by our police forces.
It is right to commemorate the dedicated law enforcement officers who serve our communities, states and country. It is especially right to annually honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives. This day we remember all of them.
This Memorial Day is for all our officers, who have died of disease, injury or job stress, and those who have just faded away like all good soldiers who are included in the day’s recognitions. So let us be grateful for their many sacrifices and now celebrate their lives with pride and affection, as the roll call is read out on this day let us pray for the entire blue line that serves and protects our community.
Only those who have lost a loved one can understand what cannot be explained to someone outside the law enforcement community, the integrity that motivates someone to protect and serve.
Their grief reminds us that law enforcement is not just another job, but a higher calling that involves the entire family, that connects to a larger fellowship worldwide, and deserves the undying respect of every person who enjoys the peace and safety that our law enforcement profession provides. The men and women who wear the uniform and those who love them are a beacon of light in a sometimes dark world.
To sustain America as a place of order, we need officers who will use intellect, compassion and yes force to prevent the tyranny of the lawless, and to preserve the freedom of the law-abiding.
Every day that an officer puts on the badge, kisses their spouse and children goodbye, and walks out the door, they do so knowing that they might be called upon that day to step between good and evil, often at the risk of great personal cost.
We are reminded of this fact each year as we commemorate lives cut too short in service to their community and this state. Their bravery, sacrifice and service bless us beyond what mere words like “thank you” can convey. Maine is strong because they make it safe. It is fitting to recognize and honor all who have chosen law enforcement as a career.
On average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United State every 57 hours. Since the first known line of duty death in 1791, until now 20,267 names have been engraved on the walls of the National Enforcement Officer Memorial in Washington, D.C. Those officers have made the ultimate sacrifice. More than 900,000 sworn law enforcement now serve in the United States, 12 percent of those are females. Of that 12 percent there are 270 females listed on the Memorial; Maine has 85 names listed on the National Memorial.
We can only pray that all law enforcement officers who protect this state are kept out of harm’s way, however, we must face reality that the men and women who protect us are putting their lives on the line every day to make our community safe.
Whether the shirt is white, blue, green or brown, we are all brothers and sisters in law enforcement. Those who we remember today and every day have paid with their lives to uphold the law and keep citizens safe. It is officers such as these who are the foundation in which every law enforcement agency stands upon. Those that we have lost have set the standard and it is up to the young men and women today to carry on that service for them. It has often been said that, “The blue line may be thin, but it is strong”.
Thank you and God Bless America.
Chief Michael W. Gahagan
Caribou Chief of Police
