Officers to be Remembered at 16th Annual Wreathlaying Day Ceremony

On Wednesday, October 10, at 1 pm, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) will remember our nation's fallen law enforcement officers during the 16th Annual Wreathlaying Day Ceremony. Wreathlaying Day commemorates the October 1991 dedication of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC.This year's ceremony will pay special tribute to 20 officers—from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and various federal agencies—who died during the first nine months of this year.

2007 has been a particularly deadly time for law enforcement nationwide. According to the NLEOMF's preliminary statistics, 141 officers died between January and September 2007. That is a 32 percent increase over the 107 who died during the same period of 2006.

Fifteen of the 20 fallen officers who will be remembered on October 10 were from federal agencies, including Special Agent Kimberly Place, the first female member of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to be killed.

Survivors, friends, and colleagues of the 20 honored officers will attend this ceremony, and honor guards representing the agencies involved will stand a rotating vigil at the Memorial through the afternoon.