Police

Annual FOP ceremony honors fallen officers

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week. Established by a joint resolution of Congress later that same year, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others.

FOP Lodge 11 invites the public to attend its annual tribute to fallen officers on Thursday, May 14, in West Chester.

Against that backdrop, Chester County Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 11 holds its annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service. The public is invited to help pay tribute to fallen state and county heroes at the 12^th annual ceremony on Thursday May 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the lodge headquarters: 218 N. Church St. in West Chester.

Area police departments typically send one or more officers in uniform for the ceremony. This year’s speakers will include State FOP President Les Neri, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan, Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department Chief Brenda Bernot, and Rev. Jack Crans. The program will be followed by a reception in the Squad Room Lounge.

Nationally, 127 officers died in the line of duty in 2014. In Pennsylvania, five officers were lost – Sgt. Daryl Giles of the Philadelphia School Police, Pennsylvania State Trooper Byron Dickson, Pennsylvania State Trooper David Kedra, Perryopolis Borough Police Officer Richard Champion, and K-9 Rocco from the Pittsburgh Police Department, according to FOP officials.

National Police Week, which will run from May 10-16, will include the 34^rd Annual National Peace Officer’s Memorial Day Services held at the U.S. Capitol on May 15. At this service, the names of officers who fell in the line of duty in the past year are honored in a roll call, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

This year South Londonderry Township Sgt. Sheryl A. Pierce from Lebanon County will have her name added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall, after her death in 2013 was determined to have been in the line of duty, officials said.