News Update
Ceremony honors fallen police officers of 2011
Chris Beattie/Staff Photo -- The McKinney Police Department Honor Guard completes a 21-Gun Salute toward the end of Tuesday's Police Memorial Ceremony honoring law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty last year.
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalnews.com
Somber salutes signified another year of ultimate sacrifice.
Flags flew at half-mast across the nation Tuesday as law enforcement agencies recognized their fallen officers.
The McKinney Police Department (MPD) hosted its annual Police Memorial Ceremony in front of the Public Safety Building to honor 13 Texas officers who died in the line of duty last year.
"These types of sacrifices, this type of bravery isn't exhibited just in your large cities, large metropolitan areas like Dallas-Fort Worth," McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said before a city proclamation. "Every day that our public safety officials get up and put on their uniform and go to work, they're doing so recognizing that they're putting themselves out there for our safety...without knowing what the day will be like, who they'll encounter...whether they'll make it home."
As law enforcement officers stood in salute, the MPD Color Guard and Honor Guard raised the U.S. and Texas flags to half-mast. McKinney SWAT Team members pinned on a Texas-shaped flower monument black roses for the 13 officers honored during roll call.
Each officer's name, department and city of service were announced, as was his or her end-of-watch date. Vehicular assault, auto accident, duty-related illness and gunfire caused their deaths while they served in law enforcement agencies across the state in 2011.
Such ceremonies were held nationwide as part of National Police Week, May 13-19. President John F. Kennedy established the week of recognition in 1962 to pay tribute to officers who lose their lives while protecting others.
About 900,000 law enforcement officers, including 159 sworn MPD members, serve in communities across the U.S. Some 60,000 assaults against officers resulting in about 16,000 injuries are reported each year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., dedicated in 1991.
This spring, 362 names of officers, including 163 who were killed last year, will be added to the national memorial, which holds special significance for Cpl. John Lane of the MPD.
Before coming to McKinney, Lane was a police officer in Virginia when he lost one of his rookies, William Andrew Henley, in the line of duty March 19, 2005. Henley's name is etched on the national wall.
"It puts a new perspective on why we should honor the fallen," said Lane, who named his son after Henley. "When it hits closer to home, you have the tendency to realize it can happen to anybody."
Because Lane's department was so close to D.C., they would attend the national ceremony every year. Lane said "it was a huge relief," albeit an emotional one, when he saw Henley's name on the memorial in 2007.
"It hurts to this day," he said. "It's just difficult to overcome and live with even years after."
Since the first recorded death in 1791, more than 20,000 officers in the U.S. have been killed in the line of duty. Samuel Perry Burks, Marion E. Taylor and Mulligan Ray Burk are three McKinney officers who have died on duty since the MPD's inception.
Taylor died in 1938 and Burk in 1970, both from gunfire, and Taylor Burk Drive, the street on which the Public Safety Building sits, was named in their honor.
Their remembrance concluded the solemn roll call, then John Cooper of the MPD Mounted Unit led a rider-less horse in front of the crowd to symbolize warriors who would ride no more. A 21 Gun Salute and playing of Taps broke the silence before McKinney Police Chief Doug Kowalski read author Raymond Chandler's words on heroism, alluding to a man who "must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world."
"That pretty much sums up every police officer I've ever had the honor and privilege of working with, male and female, in the course of my career," Kowalski said of the quote.
City officials and attendees took it all in as officers dispersed. They likely realized this wouldn't be the last ceremony; another roll call would ring out next spring.
Service is too often the ultimate sacrifice.
"This is the least we can do," Lane said. "It's such an important way to show that we care and will always remember."
Flags flew at half-mast across the nation Tuesday as law enforcement agencies recognized their fallen officers.
The McKinney Police Department (MPD) hosted its annual Police Memorial Ceremony in front of the Public Safety Building to honor 13 Texas officers who died in the line of duty last year.
"These types of sacrifices, this type of bravery isn't exhibited just in your large cities, large metropolitan areas like Dallas-Fort Worth," McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said before a city proclamation. "Every day that our public safety officials get up and put on their uniform and go to work, they're doing so recognizing that they're putting themselves out there for our safety...without knowing what the day will be like, who they'll encounter...whether they'll make it home."
As law enforcement officers stood in salute, the MPD Color Guard and Honor Guard raised the U.S. and Texas flags to half-mast. McKinney SWAT Team members pinned on a Texas-shaped flower monument black roses for the 13 officers honored during roll call.
Each officer's name, department and city of service were announced, as was his or her end-of-watch date. Vehicular assault, auto accident, duty-related illness and gunfire caused their deaths while they served in law enforcement agencies across the state in 2011.
Such ceremonies were held nationwide as part of National Police Week, May 13-19. President John F. Kennedy established the week of recognition in 1962 to pay tribute to officers who lose their lives while protecting others.
About 900,000 law enforcement officers, including 159 sworn MPD members, serve in communities across the U.S. Some 60,000 assaults against officers resulting in about 16,000 injuries are reported each year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., dedicated in 1991.
This spring, 362 names of officers, including 163 who were killed last year, will be added to the national memorial, which holds special significance for Cpl. John Lane of the MPD.
Before coming to McKinney, Lane was a police officer in Virginia when he lost one of his rookies, William Andrew Henley, in the line of duty March 19, 2005. Henley's name is etched on the national wall.
"It puts a new perspective on why we should honor the fallen," said Lane, who named his son after Henley. "When it hits closer to home, you have the tendency to realize it can happen to anybody."
Because Lane's department was so close to D.C., they would attend the national ceremony every year. Lane said "it was a huge relief," albeit an emotional one, when he saw Henley's name on the memorial in 2007.
"It hurts to this day," he said. "It's just difficult to overcome and live with even years after."
Since the first recorded death in 1791, more than 20,000 officers in the U.S. have been killed in the line of duty. Samuel Perry Burks, Marion E. Taylor and Mulligan Ray Burk are three McKinney officers who have died on duty since the MPD's inception.
Taylor died in 1938 and Burk in 1970, both from gunfire, and Taylor Burk Drive, the street on which the Public Safety Building sits, was named in their honor.
Their remembrance concluded the solemn roll call, then John Cooper of the MPD Mounted Unit led a rider-less horse in front of the crowd to symbolize warriors who would ride no more. A 21 Gun Salute and playing of Taps broke the silence before McKinney Police Chief Doug Kowalski read author Raymond Chandler's words on heroism, alluding to a man who "must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world."
"That pretty much sums up every police officer I've ever had the honor and privilege of working with, male and female, in the course of my career," Kowalski said of the quote.
City officials and attendees took it all in as officers dispersed. They likely realized this wouldn't be the last ceremony; another roll call would ring out next spring.
Service is too often the ultimate sacrifice.
"This is the least we can do," Lane said. "It's such an important way to show that we care and will always remember."
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