NEWS RELEASES from the Mayor's Office City of Knoxville, Tennessee Bill Haslam, Mayor

Law Enforcement Memorial Service

In Remembrance Knoxville Police Department Captain Ed Cummings Lieutenance Paris Dale Goin Officer John Stephen Irwin Sergeant William Irwin Sergeant Terry Lynn Reynolds Knox County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Donnie Weaver Corrections Officer Andy Wilson Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Billy T. Frazier Special Agent Shields Winford Smith, Sr. Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority Officer John. E. Childress University of Tennessee Officer Thomas E. Garrett, Jr. May 13, 2008 - The City of Knoxville, Knoxville Police Department, Knox County, Knox County Sheriff's Department, the Fraternal Order of Police and other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies held a joint law enforcement memorial service on Tuesday, May 13 at the World's Fair Park Amphitheater to honor National Peace Officers Memorial Day. On October 1, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed Public Law 87-726 designating May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week containing May 15 as National Police Week. 103rd Congress later amended this law as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. President Bill Clinton signed Public Law 103-322 which directs that the flag of the United States on all Government buildings be displayed at half staff on May 15th, National Peace Officers Memorial Day. On May 15, 1982, the first National Peace Officers Memorial Day Service was held in Washington, D.C. Activities during National Police Week now include the annual Candlelight Vigil at the National Law Enforcement Offiers Memorial, COPS National Police Survivors Seminars as well as the National Peace Officers Memorial Day Service. The 2008 Knoxville-Knox County Peace Officers Memorial Service was presented through the support of the Fraternal Order of Police Volunteer Lodge No. Two in cooperation with the federal, sate, and local law enforcement agencies.

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