VALOR Officer Safety Conference on September 17-18

On September 17-18, the VALOR Initiative will host an officer safety conference in Hurst, TX, providing officers with the opportunity to learn about varied topics including emerging threats and challenges, casualty care and rescue tactics, and pre-incident indicators of a potential assault. You can view the full, two-day agenda here.

Along with a wide array of law enforcement experts and researchers, Memorial Fund CEO Craig W. Floyd and Nick Breul, Director of Officer Safety and Wellness Initiative, will both be in attendance lending their expertise on the threats facing our officers. Additionally, there will be presentations by representatives from Dallas, who were recipients of our Destination Zero National Officer Safety and Officer Wellness Award in the category of officer safety for their trauma kits, and Yolo County, CA S.O who won in the traffic safety category for reducing at fault vehicle crashes.

Since the inception of the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) VALOR Initiative in 2010, a total of 153 VALOR officer safety training sessions have been conducted, impacting over 19,000 law enforcement officers. The training continues to be positively received by officers across the country.

There is no registration fee for this conference, but space is limited. Enrollment is reserved for currently sworn law enforcement personnel. Federal registrants will be placed on a wait list pending availability. Register today.

IHIA Symposium Lays Wreath at Memorial

Attendees of the 2015 International Homicide Investigators Association symposium in Washington, DC, gathered at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on the evening of Tuesday, August 18, to lay a wreath in honor of the more than 20,000 law enforcement officers whose names are on the Memorial walls.

Memorial Fund Chairman and CEO Craig Floyd welcomed the guests and spoke of the annual candlelight vigil ceremony held at the Memorial during National Police Week in May, a tradition since the Memorial was dedicated in 1991. He also shared a story about the special guest and keynote speaker for the second candlelight vigil in 1992, radio host Paul Harvey.

“I picked him up that day at the airport and I brought him to the Memorial,” Floyd started, “and I walked along the west wall behind me until I got to panel 60W, Line 18. And as we were walking, he became impatient, and he said, ‘Craig, where is his name?’ His father, Harry Aurandt, had been shot and killed in December of 1921, when Paul Harvey was three years old. Paul Harvey’s father’s name is proudly inscribed on these Memorial walls, along with more than 20,000 others.

“And when I finally pointed to his name on that wall, Paul Harvey, a world-renowned gentleman who, at that time, was in his seventies, got down on his knees. He touched his father’s name and began sobbing. It touched him to see his nation had not forgotten his father after all these years, that his story would continue to be told at these Memorial grounds.”

Minnesota Twins Host Inaugural Law Enforcement Night

On Saturday, August 15, on a very hot and humid night in the Twin Cities, the Minnesota Twins took on the Cleveland Indians at Target Field in downtown Minneapolis. A crowd of over 30,000 was on hand to support and cheer the Twins on to another win as they beat the Indians with a final score of 4-1. This raised their record to 58-58 and the Twins are currently in 2nd place in the American League Central Division.

Another win on Saturday was for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF). The NLEOMF partnered with the Twins and hosted their inaugural law enforcement night. Over 300 law enforcement professionals, families and supporters from the Twin Cities and the State of Minnesota came out to support this special event.

The night featured a pre-game ceremony which recognized Sheriff Brad Peterson of the Minnesota Sheriffs Association as the longest serving sheriff in Minnesota, as well as President Hugo McPhee of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association and President Susan Mayerle of the Minnesota Concerns Of Police Survivors Chapter.

Fans were also treated to a special law enforcement public service announcement and tribute video from NBC sportscaster Bob Costas.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) Airport Police Department Honor Guard presented the colors during the National Anthem.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund would like to thank everyone who attended, with special thanks to Luis Breazeale and the entire Minnesota Twins Group Sales Team, Minnesota Twins Security Department, the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, Minnesota Sheriffs Association, Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police and the Minnesota COPS.

Plans are already underway for another Twins Law Enforcement Night game in 2016. Join us this winter in Minneapolis as we team up with the Minnesota Wild for a night of hockey and law enforcement.

More information on future events can be found at www.lawmemorial.org/sports.

FBI National Academy Lays Wreath at Memorial

Dressed in dark green polo shorts and khaki pants, the members of the 261st session of the FBI National Academy gathered at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on Wednesday, July 29, for their traditional wreathlaying memorial service.

With the presentation of colors by the Ceremonial Honor Guard from the Metro Transit Police Department and the National Anthem performed by Samuel Olson of the Big Lake (MN) Police Department, the FBI’s Benny Lamanna welcomed the group. Lamanna congratulated the participants for their hard work and determination that lead them through their 10-week course at the academy.

Ian Stratford, of the Toronto, Canada, Police Service, reminded the officers of the names on the walls of the Memorial around them. “Heroes,” he called them, adding “law enforcement were the ones who ran in when everyone else was running out.”

After the wreath placement ceremony and roll call of fallen officers, Lamanna asked the group to raise their right hand and rededicate themselves to their profession, to keeping the public safe.

The ceremony ended with Rick Pasciuto, retired from the U.S. Capitol Police, playing Taps and the bagpipes of Rob Deer from the Fairfax County (VA) Sheriff’s Office.

Law Enforcement Day at the 'K'

It was a perfect baseball day for the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. With the temperature topping out at 93 degrees under a bright sun, the Royals took an early 4-0 lead against the Houston Astros in the first inning during their annual ‘Law Enforcement Day at the K’ on Sunday, July 26.

More than 500 law enforcement officers, and their friends and family, came out to the ballpark to support this special event, as the Royals won their fifth straight game with the 5-1 final score, remaining at the top of the American League.

The Cass County (MO) Sheriff’s Department Honor Guard presented the colors during a pregame ceremony in honor of Missouri and Kansas law enforcement personnel. The event benefited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Our special thanks to Ariel Peralta and the Kansas City Royals Group Sales, the Missouri Chiefs of Police Association and the Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police. Check out www.lawmemorial.org/sports for the latest law enforcement appreciation sporting events to honor law enforcement.

Secret Service Commemorates 150th Anniversary

William Craig’s name sits in the shadow of Littleleaf Linden trees on the eastern wall of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Visitors might pass it, on the sixth row of Panel 16, without knowing that Craig was the first Secret Service officer to die in the line of duty in 1902.

Craig, who was killed while protecting President Theodore Roosevelt, and 35 other employees who have died while working for the United States Secret Service, were commemorated on Thursday, July 9, at the Memorial in a ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the creation of the agency.

Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy spoke of the hard work agents put into their day, and the importance of the people they’re assigned to protect. An agency that was first created to stop the spread of counterfeit currency now protects the President of the United States, as well as fights against financial crimes throughout the country.

It is an agency older than both the FBI and CIA, and continues to be one of the most visible as they flank official representatives of the United States throughout the world.

World Police & Fire Games Host Candlelight Ceremony

As the sun set over the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC, on June 30, a large group from the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games gathered at the site to honor their fallen comrades with a candlelight Memorial Service.

Bagpipes were played throughout the ceremony that included an invocation by Monsignor Salvatore Criscuolo, of St. Patrick Catholic Church in DC, and a presentation of colors by a combined honor guard from Fairfax County (VA) Fire and Rescue, Police Department and Sheriff’s Office.

Memorial Fund Chief of Staff Herbert V. Giobbi shared welcome remarks, in which he described the bravery of those who choose to be law enforcement officers. He spoke about Lyndhurst (NJ) Police Officer Michael Keane, who was on Amtrak train 188 when it derailed in Philadelphia in May. Officer Keane was heading home after having participated in the Police Unity Tour, as part of the National Police Week festivities in Washington, DC. When the train crashed, Officer Keane’s immediate reaction, after checking on his fiancé, was to start helping the others who had been injured.

Later when Officer Keane was asked why he had jumped into action, he said, “It’s my job. That’s what I’m put on this planet to do.” Mr. Giobbi stressed that officers throughout the country were put on this planet to do just that, to save the lives of others.

FBI Director James Comey Jr. took the stage as the keynote speaker and promised to continue working hard to make sure more officers aren’t killed in the line of duty, and that the names on the walls of the surrounding Memorial would always be remembered.

The lighting of the candles immediately followed led by Fairfax County (VA) Police Department 2^nd Lieutenant Bruce Blechl, who helped bring the World Police & Fire Games to Fairfax. He invited survivors of fallen officers from Fairfax County to spread the light through the crowd, as an Air Force bugler played ‘Taps.’

When the ceremony concluded, the athletes were wished well in their continued games, where thousands of professional and public safety athletes from around the world compete in more than 65 sports. The World Police & Fire Games are held every two years, with the 2017 games scheduled for Montreal, Canada.