Forever engraved in
our memories
Four New Jersey officers whose
End of Watch occurred in 2014 are
being added to the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial
Wall in Washington D.C.:
Melvin Santiago
EOW: July 13, 2014
Jersey City Police Department
Christopher Goodell
EOW: July 17, 2014
Waldwick Police Department
Reinaldo Arocha Jr.
EOW: Sept. 16, 2014
Newark Police Department
Stephen Petruzzello
EOW: Dec. 29, 2014
Cliffside Park Police Department
Now an institution that draws leaders across national law
enforcement, including U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch,
Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P National President – and
.S.)
New Jersey’s own - Madeline Neumann, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) CEO Craig Floyd, and
police chiefs and union leaders from coast to coast and abroad,
these collective events stem from a proclamation by President
John F. Kennedy on Oct. 1, 1962, designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police
Week.
The proclamation noted that Police Week “(Pays) tribute to the
law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice
for our country and (voices) our appreciation for all those who
currently serve on the front lines of the battle against crime.”
The past three U.S. Presidents have each taken a moment to
reflect during Police Week. President Bill Clinton amended the law
in 1994 to direct that the flag of the U.S. be flown at half-staff on
May 15; President George W. Bush related Police Week to the current environment in a 2002 proclamation recognizing:
“Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week pay tribute to
the local, State and Federal law enforcement officers who serve
and protect us with courage and dedication. These observances
also remind us of the ongoing need to be vigilant against all forms
of crime, especially to acts of extreme violence and terrorism.”
At the National Peace Officer’s Memorial Service on May 15,
2013, President Barack Obama paid tribute to fallen law enforcement officers, closing:
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“The fallen officers we honor today put themselves on the front
lines of that fight, to preserve that quality of community, and to
protect the roots of our greatness. They exemplified the very idea
of citizenship – that with our God-given rights come responsibilities and obligations to ourselves and to others. They embodied
that idea. That’s the way they died. That’s how we must remember
them. And that’s how we must live.”
The first Police Week Memorial Service began in 1982 as a gathering in Senate Par