Local Fallen Officers Remembered
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Hundreds of law enforcement officers throughout West Tennessee honored their fallen comrades in an annual memorial service during National Police Week on Thursday. Twenty-one shots were fired to remember law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. “We are taking time out to honor them and make sure they’re remembered,” Sheriff Tommy Cunningham of Madison County said. Seventeen officers with ties to West Tennessee were honored at the National Law Enforcement Memorial Service held at the Madison County Juvenile Court. The earliest death dated back to 1876 in Jackson, and the most recent was a reserve officer killed in January in Whiteville. “We don’t remember them in death but how they lived and served their communities,” Chief Steven Stanley of the Whiteville Police Department said. “It’s a healing process for the family especially those who have died in the line of duty,” Captain Anthony Heavner of Madison County Sheriff’s Department said. “And it’s also a healing process for the officers.” Officers said statistics show at least 1,500 officers were killed in the last 10 years in the line of duty. In 2013, at least 100 officers were killed. “We lose men and women in law enforcement every day, but we know that when we don the badge,” Chief Stanley said. Officers said the risk they take to serve and protect their communities is worth it.
