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As Americans prepare to honor the nation’s fallen servicemen and women on Memorial Day, law-enforcement officers from North Alabama and southern Tennessee will pay tribute Tuesday to police officers who put their lives on the line.
The Ardmore Police Department’s annual memorial ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at the department, located at 26704 Main Street. Col. Tracy Trott from the Tennessee Highway Patrol will be the guest speaker.
Officers who attended the ceremony in past years were from departments in Athens, Limestone County, Huntsville, Madison, Florence, Rogersville, Pulaski, Lincoln and Giles counties and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Whitt said lunch will be provided at the Tennessee Annex for officers in attendance.
The department has held the service for the past several years, usually in conjunction with National Police Week. President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation in 1962 that designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week.
“It’s just a way for us to honor law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty,” said Ardmore Police Chief David Whitt. “It’s a time we can pay our respects.”
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, there are about 60,000 assaults on law enforcement officers each year, resulting in nearly 16,000 injuries. Over the last decade, an average of 160 officers a year have been killed in the line of duty, while more than 19,000 officers have died throughout U.S. history.
Whitt said the Ardmore Police Department had been fortunate to not have any officers killed in the line of duty. However, Whitt was an officer in Athens when Officer Tony Mims and Sgt. Larry Russell were ambushed and killed by Farron Barksdale in January 2004.
“Those were two of my guys,” Whitt said.
Barksdale died in the Kilby Correctional Facility in 2007.
When the Ardmore Police Department is fully staffed, there are seven officers, including Whitt. He said on-the-job hazards continue to mount, though his officers wear protective gear.
“People think those vests are bullet-proof, but they’re not,” he said. “They don’t stop a bullet, they just slow it down.”
Whitt said domestic violence calls continue to be the most dangerous for law-enforcement officers, though drugs are becoming an increasing problem.
“It just seems like there are more people with guns and more robberies,” he said.
The rise in smartphone use is also making police officers’ jobs more complicated, and not just because of a rise in distracted drivers. New police scanner apps now allow residents to know what officers are doing.
“It makes it harder for us to catch people in the act because they keep up with where we are,” he said.
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Ardmore Police Memorial to be held Tuesday
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