Against a backdrop of flags and the wail of bagpipes, Chester County Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge No. 11’s annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service, held during National Police Week, typically inspires a somber convocation.
On Thursday, May 14, more than a hundred colleagues, lawmakers, public officials and members of the public gathered at the FOP headquarters in downtown West Chester to pay tribute to Chester County’s fallen heroes – nine members of law enforcement who continue to inspire undying gratitude for their ultimate sacrifice.
But this year’s program, coming on the heels of two police deaths in Mississippi and an attempt to run down six Philadelphia officers this week, evoked even greater pathos.
“Today is a difficult time to be a police officer in America,” said Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department Chief Brenda Bernot, noting that it has never been an easy career.
Not only do officers have to work nights, weekends, and holidays, but they can also forget about snow days. They also need to have a diverse skill set, Bernot said. Medical training and a counseling background are vital, but they must also be prepared for roles ranging from locksmith to animal wrangler – and for danger that can occur in an instant.
Mindful of that, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed in 1962 that May 15 would be National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls would be National Police Week. Established by a joint resolution of Congress later that same year, the week includes a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on May 15.
State FOP President Les Neri said he had just returned from the candlelight service in Washington, which was very moving. “Try and make time to go” some year, he urged the audience. “Every day police officers honor and fulfill their oath to protect their fellow citizens,” he said, adding that those who lose their lives deserve to be honored.
Nationally, 126 officers died in the line of duty in 2014, said Chester County Detective Harold “Butch” Dutter, the FOP Lodge No. 11 president. Dutter said 42 officers have lost their lives so far this year, two of whom were fatally ambushed just because they were police officers.
Donna Dunn, president of the Lodge No. 11 auxiliary, read the names of Chester County’s fallen heroes. They spanned a wide time frame – from 1887 when Benjamin Irey, a sheriff on his way to serve court papers was fatally struck by a train, to 1988 when Parkesburg Officer Douglas H. Pyle died in a motorcycle crash on the way back from a training program.
Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said he was at a speaking engagement recently and asked rhetorically about the value of a fallen police officer’s life to a community. He said a young insurance agent said he could answer the question and came up with a figure of about $2 ½ million for a 30-year-old victim.
Hogan said he asked the man if the calculation factored in how many lives would have been saved through the hundreds of arrests the officer would have made, sparing children from sexual predators, citizens from bank robbers, or motorists from drunk drivers.
The insurance specialist ended up apologizing, Hogan said. “You cannot calculate the cost of the life of a police officer,” Hogan said.
The service, which opened with a Chester County Sheriff’s Department Honor Guard, also included an invocation by Paul Ferguson, FOP Lodge No. 11’s chaplain; musical tributes; a rifle salute – and repeated reminders that the victims’ service would never be forgotten.
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