HOULTON, Maine — Just as Houlton Police Chief Joe McKenna was mid-way through his presentation to honor fallen law enforcement officers as part of National Police Week, one of his officers had to leave the ceremony to answer a call.
It was another sign that police work never stops, even to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
McKenna organized the 15-minute ceremony at the Houlton Police Department on Tuesday, which included an invocation and wreath laying. It attracted members of the Maine Warden Service, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Maine Forest Service, Maine State Police, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as a number of military veterans.
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.
McKenna noted that traffic stops and ambushes were the leading cause of death for police officers in the line of duty.
He added that Maine had lost 87 police officers in the line of duty, and ten of those were from Aroostook County. He asked the crowd to remember all law enforcement officers as they assumed their duties to protect people and communities.
Aroostook County Sheriff Darrell Crandall read off the names of the five deputy sheriffs who died in the line of duty. They included Norman Dube, who suffered a massive heart attack in Nov. 1997 in Ashland while attempting to interrogate a suspected drunk driver.
State Police Lt. Brian Harris also honored Detective Glenn Strange, who suffered a fatal heart attack on Oct. 17, 1997, several days after being punched in the chest by a suspect who assaulted him. After Strange complained of chest pains and it was determined that he had suffered an injury to his heart, he was fitted with a pacemaker. As he and his wife drove home from the hospital three days later, he suffered a fatal heart attack.
The Maine Warden Service also honored Daryl Gordon, who died when his plane crashed on Clear Lake in a remote section of Piscataquis County in March, 2011.
An annual observance at the Maine Law Enforcement Officers Memorial will take place Thursday at 11 am in Augusta. The guest speaker will be Maine Attorney General Janet Mills. The memorial, containing the names of the 83 officers killed in the line of duty, is along State Street, adjacent to the State House. No new names are being added this year.
