A Week to Remember
National Police Week
in Washington D.C.
offers an unforgettable
experience
2015 National Police
Week Schedule
May 10
20th Annual Law Ride
RFK Stadium
May 11
36th Annual Washington Area
Law Enforcement Memorial
Service
Memorial Fountain
May 12
Police Unity Tour Arrival
Ceremony
n BY JOSHUA SIGMUND
W
hen the riders stampede across the
threshold at Judiciary Square to
roars of applause culminating a
300-mile interstate Unity Tour; when sobbing sons and daughters, husbands
and wives, parents and friends rub
the names of fallen loved ones off
the National Law Enforcement
Officers Memorial Wall; when a single flame spreads like wildfire across
tens of thousands of candles under a
thin blue line to the somber reading
of the names added to the Wall
that contains more than 20,000
known line of duty deaths in the U.S.;
National Police Week shows its enormity, its
gravitas, its power.
For Millville Local 213 State Delegate Rich
Kott, Police Week is very tough. Having lost
fellow Millville Officer Christopher Reeves as
a result of a July 8, 2012 vehicle collision during a pursuit, Kott knows all-too-well the
emotions that will be palpable in the capital
May 10-16.
“It reminds you this time of year of Chris,”
relayed Kott. “You don’t really understand
what the (National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial) Wall means to you until you
lose someone. When it happens in another
police department it’s still not personalized.
When it happens to you, it really hits home
and shows you how vulnerable we are.”
Yet through all the tears and
painful memories, National
Police Week provides hope; a
sense
of
camaraderie
between law enforcement officers across the country that is
unmatched unless you’ve shared in
the highs and lows of the events.
“No one told me what to expect the
first year,” recalled Wayne Local 136
member Sean Mitchell about his first Unity
Tour ride six years ago. “We had rain and it
was 40 degrees and you’re getting soaked
and you just wanted to die. You’re frozen and
numb, then when you get to the Wall decorated with flowers and pictures and memorabilia from departments and you see the
people and the signs saying ‘Thank you for
riding for my daddy or my mommy,’ the hair
stands up on your arms. All those hours in
heat or cold, it all goes away and you realize
the magnitude of it.”
National Law Enforcement
Officers Memorial
May 12
NAPO Top Cops Awards
Banquet
JW Marriott Hotel
May 13
27th Annual Candlelight Vigil
National Law Enforcement
Officers Memorial
May 14
13th Annual Steve Young
National Honor Guard and
Pipe Band Competitions
Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
May 14-16
National Police Survivors
Conference and C.O.P.S.
Kids/Teens
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel
May 15
34th Annual National Peace
Officers’ Memorial Service
West Front of the U.S. Capitol
www.njcopsmagazine.com
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