Memorial Service at Capitol Honors Officers Lost in 2001
by Manny Fernandez, Washington Post
Bathed by the sun and swept by the wind yesterday, the green of the U.S. Capitol lawn turned to a sea of blue, and beige, and brown, and white.
Uniformed law enforcement officers from agencies large and small held their white-gloved hands to their brows to salute a procession of grieving family members. And everyone -- from the commander in chief to the chiefs of 12-officer police departments -- spoke the same three words yesterday to sum up 2001, one of the deadliest years in U.S. law enforcement history: honor, sacrifice, gratitude.
“America is grateful,” said President Bush, one of several national leaders who attended the 21st annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service. “You just need to know -- America is grateful.”
Thousands of law enforcement officers, their families and supporters gathered for a solemn service at the historic West Front of the Capitol yesterday to pay their respects to the 234 men and women killed in the line of duty last year, from those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks to lesser-known victims gunned down during traffic stops or fatally injured in vehicle pursuits.
“I told my officers yesterday that this is a day of remembrance,” said Cleveland Police Chief Edward F. Lohn. But, he said, “Remembrance without recommitment has no meaning.”
Patrick J. O’Dea, police chief in Haworth, N.J., fought back tears as he remembered Stephen Driscoll, 38, a New York City officer killed Sept. 11 at the World Trade Center. O’Dea attended grammar school in the Bronx with Driscoll, one of 23 the NYPD lost that day.
O’Dea said the turnout yesterday for an annual event -- more than 10,000, organizers said -- was a show of support that was encouraging to him and scores of others who wear the uniform. “We need that,” O’Dea said. “You’re not going to give your all if you don’t think the people are behind you.”
Much has changed about the job since Sept. 11, officers said, from the increased recognition from the public and the media of officers’ daily sacrifices to more frequent training sessions on bioterror and emergency response.
The service offered another sign of change: Security was extraordinarily tight. Capitol police said the presence of Bush, members of Congress and federal officials, along with the large law enforcement presence and the honoring of officers who died in the terrorist attacks, caused them to take extra precautions.
The event was held within a fenced perimeter, and most participants had to step through a metal detector. Officers, even those in uniform, had to show credentials. Several nearby streets were closed.
Many officers said they didn’t mind the precautions, saying that though much has changed about the job, much has stayed the same, such as preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
Another fact of life was unchanged: Many were scheduled to return to work soon, to a duty some might view as mundane police work, but they view as necessary and noble. Some would go about protecting the citizenry of C District in east Buffalo. And Karen Sherwood would make sure the registered sex offenders of Alameda County, Calif., stay on the right side of the law.
“I go back to work Friday,” said Sherwood, 40, a commander on a sexual assault task force and special agent supervisor with the state Department of Justice.
As the names of California officers who lost their lives were read over the public-address system near the close of the noon service, Sherwood stood in silence, saluting. Other officers from other states did the same for their colleagues. “I wear the uniform,” she said afterward, explaining the gesture.
The memorial service, organized annually by the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest law enforcement labor group in the United States, drew a range of emotions from participants.
At times, it had the feel of a family reunion, as state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and police officers caught up with old acquaintances and made new ones. They continued a popular tradition of trading shoulder patches, told jokes and played catch with their sons.
At other times, when bagpipers played, when New York City police officer Daniel Rodriguez sang the national anthem as the crowd saluted a flag flying at half-staff at the base of a Capitol dome in sunlight, it had the feel of a police officer’s funeral.
Many officers said they had used their personal vacation time to make the trip. Departments in Jackson, N.J., and Los Banos, Calif., as well as sheriff’s departments from Richmond and Prince George’s County, were represented. So were the North Dakota highway patrol, the Akron, Ohio, police and park rangers from Washington state.
The attacks of Sept. 11 and the deaths of colleagues were a constant thought. “Even though I wasn’t there, I felt the hurt,” said Cpl. Don Scott, a sheriff’s deputy in Prince George’s County. Scott, 58, retired in 1992 after working with the D.C. police for 23 years, but a love of the job brought him to Prince George’s County two years later.
Even Scott, who handles court-ordered evictions five days a week, said he must cope with one of the lessons of the attacks learned by both the public and law enforcement. The father of six said: “Anything can happen, any time, any day. . . . We can no longer take for granted the peace and tranquillity we have.”