By Police1 Staff
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day, with the calendar week during which May 15 occurs as Police Week.
While the annual Candlelight Vigil is seen as the event that officially marks the start of Police Week, the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service anchors the week’s activities.
The memorial service had humble beginnings in 1982, when 125 people gathered in Senate Park during which the Grand Lodge Fraternal Order of Police and its Auxiliary honored 91 law enforcement officers from around the country. Since then, the Fraternal Order of Police has honored over 5,000 LE officers nationwide.
President Trump – the keynote speaker at this year’s service – paid tribute to fallen law enforcement officers, calling them “among the bravest Americans to ever live.”
In addition to the memorial service, law enforcement honor guards and pipe and drum teams from across the country and Canada converged on the nation’s capital this week for the Steve Young National Honor Guard Exhibition and Pipe and Drum Demonstration organized by the Fraternal Order of Police.
More than a dozen Honor Guard and pipe and drum bands competed. You can find the results and participating agencies here.
Here is a selection of images from both of these events.