By Diana Baldwin
The Oklahoman
EDMOND, Okla. — Law enforcement officers from across the metro area were honored this past weekend during the sixth annual Memorial Blue Mass.
The celebration was part of the weeklong National Police Week, which ends Saturday.
The Blue Mass honors law enforcement officers on the job and those who have died in the line of duty.
Edmond Police Chief Bob Ricks said his city has been blessed because the police department has never had an officer killed in the line of duty.
“We have been blessed for another year,” Ricks said after Edmond Mayor Patrice Douglas read a proclamation recognizing National Police Week. “We are thankful for another year.”
Edmond Detective David Otwell said about 250 people attended the Mass at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond.
Officers representing Edmond, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Oklahoma County sheriff’s office attended the Mass.
“It turned out really, really well,” said Otwell, coordinator of this year’s Mass.
State Public Safety Commissioner Michael Thompson was the guest speaker.
“He did an excellent job,” Otwell said. “He didn’t use any notes. He was talking very personal, off-the-cuff. His presentation was awesome.”
Thompson talked about the 2003 shooting death of Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Nikky Joe Green, the 2010 shooting of Oklahoma City police officer Katie Lawson and the Feb. 15 beating of off-duty Oklahoma City police officer Chad Peery.
The Mass is sponsored by the Edmond Police Department, the Community Oriented Policing Leadership Council and Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association.
The first Blue Mass was held Sept. 29, 1934, when about 1,100 police officers and firefighters dressed in blue uniforms marched into St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington to celebrate, according to records.
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