MERIDIAN, Idaho — Community members and Idaho police officers gathered Thursday to honor those who have fallen while in the line of duty in the Gem State.
Each year in conjunction with National Police Week, Idaho's fallen officers are honored during the Idaho Peace Officers' Memorial Ceremony at the Idaho State Police (ISP) headquarters in Meridian.
The memorial honored 76 fallen officers, two of whom were sadly added this year.
"This year we added two names to the memorial. Both of them one from the 1960s an FBI agent that was killed in a car crash and I don't fish and game conservation officer that went missing in the 1930s while on duty," said ISP Lieutenant Colonel Sheldon Kelley.
"These names were long overdue to be added to our memorial so that they can get the respect and to do that is do," said Kelley.
As per tradition, those officers who have died in the line of duty had their names read aloud, one by one, along with what department they served for and when they died.
A bell was rung after each name was read and a rose was placed at the edge of the fountain in their honor. The fallen officers' names are written on the wall behind it.
Kelly said that the event serves as a time and place for families and law enforcement, both presently serving and past, to pay their respects to the officers who put their lives on the line.
The memorial was constructed and dedicated to fallen officers on May 15, 1998. The ceremony has been conducted each year at the Idaho Peace Officers' Memorial since 1995. The memorial is designed as a five-point badge, with three sandstone boulders in the center of the star at ISP headquarters.
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