TASER® Blog

Friday, May 15, 2009– today is the 28th Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Day.

As I lowered my flag to half mast this morning, I reflected on all the sights, people, inspirational speakers and courageous survivors I experienced in Washington, DC during the past week– National Police Week 2009.

This year, I had the opportunity…no, the privilege to attend events during the entire National Police Week thanks to TASER International  and the TASER Foundation for Fallen Officers .  The whole experience was overwhelming.  I have lots of great memories of what I saw and experienced.  A few of my most vivid memories include:

• Police everywhere; from everywhere– tens of thousands of law enforcement officers descended on Washington, DC this week.  They appeared to have come from every corner of the nation; from big cities and small towns; many of the countries and towns I read on shoulder patches were unknown to me. 
• 1200 bike riders took part in the Police Unity Tour arriving at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC on Tuesday, having ridden hundreds of miles to raise awareness of fallen officers.  They raised much more than awareness; they also raised $1.3 million for the National Law Enforcement Museum.
• Joseph Perischini, Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office, FBI addressing the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF)  Chairman’s Dinner Tuesday night.  His message was direct- we need to do better in the inner cities.  He then introduced a 17-year old student from one of the tougher neighborhoods in Washington, DC. She will be interning this summer at the FBI as part of its mentoring program; oh, and she applied for and has been granted top secret clearance for use during the internship.
• Sharing time with country music star Mark Wills, former Dallas Cowboy Steve Coles, American Gladiators Don” Wolf” Yates, and Valerie “Siren” Waugamanand watching each genuinely care about the officers with whom they spoke and treating the officers as the celebrities. 
• Seeing the reaction of officers and survivors to the TASER Foundation Drive to Remember Guardian One…and then thanking Sgt. Steve Gibson and Craig Prystay, the drivers, for all they have done. 
• The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Candelelight Vigil- 10,000 candles illuminating the evening sky.
• Feeling a sense of global unity as two British police officers at the Candlelight Vigil saluted during our national anthem.
• Quietly watching a good friend and colleague stoically, yet obviously painfully, remembering and honoring a college friend, FBI Agent Sam Hicks who was killed in the line of duty November 2008.
• Listening to 22-year old Florida police officer Eric Strzalkowski, who swore his oath just three months ago, proudly address the Concerns of Police Survivors  (C.O.P.S.) Gala Thursday night on what C.O.P.S. has meant to him as a surviving son.  His father was a police officer; killed when Eric was two. 
• Realizing that C.O.P.S. Gala lasted more than five hours and ended after 11:00 p.m. but no one seemed to mind; most all of the 1000 attendees were still there at the end.

While all these memories will remain with me for a long time, there is one memory and feeling that I may never forget….

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend with the TASER Foundation, the NLEOMF reception prior to the Candlelight Vigil.  Much to my amazement, as we walked the two blocks from the reception to the National Law Enforcement Memorial, law enforcement officers from hundreds of agencies, in uniforms of every color imaginable, stood shoulder to shoulder, at attention, on both sides of the street.  As we approached the Memorial, the officers saluted.  They did not know who we were or why we were there, yet they saluted.  I was there to honor and pay tribute to them and their fallen comrades, yet they saluted.  I was humbled as my eyes welled with tears.

Those salutes are what I will always remember most about National Police Week 2009.  Heartfelt gestures, ones that I do not feel I deserved, which clearly exemplifies that law enforcement truly is a fraternity of men and women who, no matter what, will always think of others before themselves.

It is also why today is the 28th Annual National Police Officers Memorial Day.  This is the one day that we ask the men and women of law enforcement to allow us to think of them first….and to say THANK YOU!