National Police Week 2016: Honoring Fallen Officers

Photo: National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund

On a cold afternoon in January 2015, Sean Renfro was helping a young family involved in a car crash on a snowy Colorado road. The off-duty police sergeant invited the family to wait in his warm truck while help arrived, and he and his friend got out to direct traffic. They were chatting and joking around when an SUV lost control on the ice and struck Sgt. Renfro, killing the father of four.

Renfro was the first U.S. police officer to be killed in the line of duty last year, just three days into 2015. By the end of the year, 123 officers lost their lives while doing their job. They'll all be honored during events around National Police Week.

Tens of thousands of police officers and their families, as well as the families of the fallen, converge on the capital each May to honor Sgt. Renfro, and the more than 20,000 other law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

An additional 129 are being honored who had died previously, but whose names hadn't yet been dedicated on the memorial.

“Police Week provides the law enforcement community a time to come together and share with each other some of the highs and lows of the work they do and the impact it has on their lives,“ said National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund spokesperson Steve Groeninger. "We honor the fallen, but we also lift those who currently serve in the profession, lift the surviving community of the fallen, and help them through the grief and the struggles that they have. And part of honoring their loved ones is memorializing or commemorating that officer’s service and sacrifice."

This year's official Police Week dates are Sunday, May 15 through Saturday, May 21, though activities have already begun. The Annual Blue Mass was held Tuesday, May 3, and Washington, D.C. area police officers honored their fallen members on Monday of this week.

Already, about 1,700 officers and supporters are riding their bikes from Florham Park, N.J., to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. as party of the annual Police Unity Tour. The Tour's goals are to raise awareness about law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty and to raise money for their memorial and museum.

One retired officer, Lt. Joseph Franklin of Roxbury, N.J., was seriously injured during the ride Monday. He remains in critical condition.

Since first Police Unity Tour in 1997, the ride has raised $18 million to commemorate fallen police officers.

Highlights of Police Week include the 28th annual candlelight vigil Friday, May 13, at 8:00 p.m. on the National Mall. The National Police Survivors Conference will let families and co-workers of fallen police officers can come together for support. And the 35th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Service will be on Sunday, May 15, on the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., followed immediately by a wreath-laying ceremony.

The full schedule is available here.

As part of police week, billboards with a tribute to each officer will be displayed in his or her hometown. In addition, during the annual Candlelight Vigil on May 13, all of Clear Channel Outdoor's large format digital billboards will pause for two minutes on "a single iconic image" in remembrance of the officers.