By Jeff Myers

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day. This has evolved into National Police Week.

According to policeweek.org, tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converge on Washington, D.C., to participate in a number of planned events to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

The memorial service began in 1982 as a gathering in Senate Park of approximately 120 survivors and supporters of law enforcement. Decades later, the Police Week event has grown to a series of events that attracts thousands of survivors and law enforcement officers to our nation’s capital each year.

For the Hoquiam Police Department, this includes honoring the sacrifice and memory of our friend and peer Daniel McCartney, who started his career in law enforcement as a police officer with our department.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy McCartney was killed in the line of duty last year while responding to a home invasion robbery. He left behind a wife and three young boys.

This year, a contingent of officers from the Harbor are in the District of Columbia, including Officer Dennis Luce of the Hoquiam Police Department. Officer Luce and his wife took vacation and paid for the trip themselves in order to support the McCartney family and participate in the memorial this year.

We are a small department of dedicated peace officers serving a small city of which we are very proud. Our role is to take a unified stance against crime, violence and disregard for the law in order to help Hoquiam to be stronger and self-sufficient, because a strong community is a safe community.

Every member of this department takes this oath daily as he or she dons the uniform and starts their shift. We appreciate the support of our citizens in Hoquiam, around our county and our state. It is our honor to serve.

Jeff Myers is chief of the Hoquiam Police Department. Reach him at jmyers@cityofhoquiam.com.