By Suzie Ziegler
WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, engravers will begin adding names of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty to the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C., the NLEOMF announced.
This year, 394 names will be added to the memorial, according to the NLEOMF. Those names include officers who died in the line of duty recently, as well as some lost in earlier years but were recently discovered. Of the 394 names, 182 lives were lost to COVID-19, reports the NLEOMF. Currently there are over 22,000 names on the wall.
“This year marks the 30th anniversary of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, the only living memorial to law enforcement officers in the nation,” said Pat Montuore, the Executive Director of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, in a statement. “It is with humble gratitude to all those we’ve lost in the line of duty that we witness each new name as it’s engraved on the Memorial. May they rest in peace.”
“As the leading authority on line-of-duty deaths, our goal is to ensure that the utmost care is taken not only in vetting and authenticating each name, but that each is engraved on the Memorial to the degree that the integrity is forever maintained,” said Marcia Ferranto, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, in a statement.
All newly engraved names are formally dedicated at the annual Candlelight Vigil during National Police Week. This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the vigil will be held virtually on May 13. In-person events for National Police Week have been rescheduled to October.