The morning of Thanksgiving is usually filled with the scent of roasting turkey. While families across the nation were preparing to give thanks on Thursday, November 23, 2017, Oakland County (Michigan) Sheriff’s department was mourning a fallen officer. Deputy Eric Overall, a 22-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was killed while trying to stop a suspect during a police chase.
He was one of 128 officers killed in the line of duty in 2017.
This week, we give thanks for law enforcement officers around the country during National Police Week, May 13-19. Officers like Rogelio Santander, Jr. of the Dallas Police Department, who was shot and killed in the line of duty while arresting a suspect for shoplifting at a Home Depot store. Sergeant Curtis Billue and Sergeant Christopher Monica were shot and killed after being attacked by two inmates in Putnam County, Georgia. And, Detective Miosotis Familia, a 12-year veteran of the New York Police Department, who was shot and killed from ambush as she sat in a marked mobile command post vehicle at the intersection of East 183rd Street and Morris Avenue in the Bronx.
Tens of thousands of officers from across the United States will commence on Washington D.C. this week to pay tribute to the honorable men and women who have given their lives in the pursuit of justice. The week includes National Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15th, which pays tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty.
National Police Week and National Peace Officers Memorial Day were proclaimed in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and were established by a joint resolution of Congress. National Police Week is principally organized by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the Fraternal Order of Police/Fraternal Order of Police Auxiliary and by the Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) group.
During this National Police Week, we at VirTra wish to salute and thank the men and women who serve in police departments across our nation every day, who put their lives on the line to protect residents in their communities around the clock.
And to all of the fallen officers who gave their lives in the pursuit of justice, we honor you and your families on this day and every day.
