Ceremony Pays Tribute to Slain Police Officers
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WASHINGTON — Hundreds of police officers from across the country and families of slain comrades gathered Wednesday in the nation’s capital to pay tribute to officers killed in the line of duty.
The ceremony in Senate Park near the U.S. Capitol was sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Fraternal Order of Police, marking National Police Memorial Day.
“The officers need respect now, while they’re alive, and by doing something like this, you bring respect back to that uniform that’s been lost,” said Maggie Smith Harvey, the sister of a slain Essex County, N.J., policeman.
About 2,000 people, including 1,500 police officers and the families of 46 slain officers, attended the event, said Trudy Chapman, president of the FOP Ladies Auxiliary. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III delivered the keynote speech.
During the ceremony, 156 officers stood on a platform behind the speaker’s podium, symbolizing each of the officers killed in the line of duty nationwide last year.
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