Ceremony honors fallen Albany and Dougherty County law enforcement officers

ALBANY — Relatives and uniformed “brothers” of fallen officers gathered Thursday morning at Gortatowsky Park on Pine Avenue to conduct the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony.

Opening the observance, Dougherty County Sheriff Kevin Sproul said there were almost 950,000 sworn law enforcement officers serving the United States, with more than 20,000 who have fallen since the first recorded duty-related death of a police officer in 1791.

“We must never, never, never forget the real heroes in our community,” Sproul said. “The men and women who have chosen to put on the badge, the shield, the star, and to serve without fear or hesitation. May God continue to bless you.”

Sproul said May 15 was established as National Peace Officers Memorial Day when President John F. Kennedy signed it into law in 1962. At the same time, the week of May 15 became National Police Week.

Speaker at the service was James Terry Norris, executive director of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association and the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Home, who introduced additional numbers pertaining to fallen law enforcement officers.

“In 2014, 126 officers were killed nationwide,” Norris said. “Inscribed in the National Law Enforcement Monument in Washington, D.C., are the names of 20,540 officers who lost their lives in the line of duty to their communities. But the most important number for us here today is that 11 of those men and women come from this community. These are your heroes and we must never forget them.”

Following Norris’ comments came a roll call and wreath presentation, where relatives of the Albany and Dougherty County fallen were given a carnation and escorted to one of eight freestanding wreaths. Represented by wreaths were the Dougherty County police, Albany police, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office, the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport police, Dougherty County School System police, Albany State University police and the U.S Marine Corps.

When called, the relatives pinned their carnations to the appropriate wreaths.

In his closing remarks, retiring Albany Police Department Chief John Proctor paid tribute to fallen officers locally and throughout the nation, and also remarked about the increased national scrutiny of law enforcement agencies.

“In times of challenge and uncertainty, we see more clearly who has really earned our admiration, our respect for a job well done,” Proctor said. “I will also add that with police being under so much scrutiny across this country, it annoys me to some degree.

“We train, we bleed, we struggle. We do all of those things other humans do, but we still persevere and we still go forward to ensure that what we do matters to our communities.”

The ceremony was brought to a close with a “Last Call” by 911 communications, symbolizing the final transmission from a fallen officer, and a black-shrouded patrol car being slowly driven away.

“The Last Call is symbolic to law enforcement officers,” said Col. John Ostrander, director of the Dougherty County Jail, “because the last thing they do is place an out-of-service call at the end of their shifts. It’s often done at a fallen officer’s funeral, and we do it for these ceremonies.

“The patrol car is like a home for an officer. In many cases they spend more time there than in their easy chairs at home.”