There are those who gripe about getting a ticket, but for those who have been in an emergency they know that these men and women are real life heroes.
Every year, between 140 and 160 of those real life heroes are killed in the line of duty.
A group was founded to help families and co-workers deal with those tragic times. Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) provides resources to help them rebuild their shattered lives. According to its website, there is no membership fee to join C.O.P.S., ‘for the price paid is already too high.’
C.O.P.S also works to educate the public of the need to support those in law enforcement and its survivors. That is why they ask people to participate in their blue ribbon campaign this year during National Police Week (May 8-15) in show of support.
“Law enforcement personnel are encouraged to tie blue ribbons to cruiser antennas. Citizens are encouraged to tie blue ribbons to their car antennas,” according to the C.O.P.S. website. “These blue ribbons are a reminder of law enforcement personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice and in honor of those men and women who serve their communities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year in and year out.”
According to C.O.P.S., the group distributes a half million blue ribbons to local police departments to call national attention to this week.
Piedmont Police Chief Steven Tidwell said the majority of the 150 law enforcement officer deaths each year occur because of violent criminal acts and traffic stops.
“It is important for us to remember those fallen officers and to remember those that serve and protect every day,” said Tidwell. “Police officers run toward the very things that most people flee from.
Every day, they see the worst that society has to offer. They leave their children and spouses every day not knowing whether or not they will return.”
Tidwell said that perhaps the best way to explain the character of the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice is to understand that they did not lose their lives in the service and protection of their fellow man, but that they gave their lives for those reasons.
“One of the quotes inscribed on the walls at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is by Vivian Eney Cross, who is a survivor of a fallen officer,” said Tidwell. “It reads, ‘It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived.’ During police week we honor and pay tribute to how our fallen officers lived.”
For more information on officers that have been killed in the line of duty, please visit the Officer Down Memorial Page at www.odmp.org. There you can find information on fallen Piedmont Police Officers Charles R. Smith and Augusta Kimberly and fallen Oxford Officer and Piedmont native Dexter Holcomb.
To make your own, just look for ribbon in royal blue color and tie some around your car’s antenna. It is a small way to give a big thank you for all that our local police department does.
C.O.P.S. is not the only organization that wants to support the men and women in blue. The U.S. Congress has passed legislation that allows the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff on May 15th and numerous police organizations hold memorial services locally, regionally and on a statewide level during that week.
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