Reflections from National Police Week 2011

Part I & Part II

The crowds had departed and the mementos left at the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial had been collected.  All that was left now of National Police Week 2011 in Washington, DC were the many memories.

It was May 17 and the staff of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund had gathered at the local Gordon Biersch’s restaurant to savor the successes after months of planning and hard work, and reflect on the special people we met and the moving experiences we all shared.  With the help of staff, I jotted down a list of all of the ceremonies and events that we organized or participated in over the past couple of weeks.  The total was 41.

The more detailed critique of Police Week would come later, but over lunch we were more interested in sharing some favorite moments that each of us experienced.  Our Director of Research, Bernie Spence, and her assistant, Carolie Heyliger, both talked about meeting the family of a special human being named Wesley Brown. 

Wesley grew up in a tough Maryland neighborhood.  He was surrounded by poverty, drugs and violence.  He did his best to stay away from trouble growing up, but there was simply no escaping it.  During his teenage years, he was stabbed in one incident and shot in another.  He could have easily succumbed to the hazards and temptations of the evil that surrounded him, but thanks to a loving family, Wesley did not just sit and let it happen. 

In fact, at the age of 20, Wesley Brown became a Maryland State Trooper.  That same year, 2007, he also launched a mentorship program for at-risk youth called, “Young Men Enlightening Younger Men.”  For the next three years, Trooper Wesley Brown was truly making a difference.  He was making his state and his community a safer, better place to live; and he was being a positive role model and offering a sense of hope to dozens of at-risk youth. 

Tragically, for those young men and for all of us, Wesley Brown’s work and life ended on June 11 of last year.  In an effort to raise money for his mentoring program, Wesley had volunteered to work a department-sanctioned security detail at a local restaurant.  A drunken man had gotten unruly in the restaurant and Wesley, in full uniform, escorted him off the premises. Thirty minutes later, the man came back with a gun and brutally assassinated Trooper Brown in a cold-blooded, cowardly act of vengeance. 

Just before National Police Week, we added Wesley Brown’s name to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.  His family was there.  His pastor was there.  One hundred of his police colleagues were there.  And, three teenage boys were there, as well, all members of Wesley’s mentoring group.  I shook each of their hands and they each turned that handshake into a hug—just like Wesley always did.  One of those young men, Shaquille Jones, told me that Wesley would often quietly pay his cell phone bill.  “He never wanted public praise,” Shaquille said.  “It crushed me when he died . . . it was like losing a best friend,” he confided.  “I became a squared-away young man thanks to Wesley,” he added proudly. 

Some 6,000 people attended Wesley Brown’s funeral.  It took three hours for two dozen speakers to eulogize this very special individual.  At our luncheon, Bernie related a story told to her by Trooper Brown’s father, who brought Wesley to the Memorial when he was 15 years old.  He said that Wesley was captivated by the Memorial, especially the lion statues.  Those lions will now be the guardians of Trooper Brown and the more than 19,000 other fallen heroes honored there.  Carolie said that when she needs inspiration, she will think of Wesley Brown.

Herb Giobbi, our Chief Operating Officer, said his favorite moment was the Police Unity Tour and their $1.5 million check presentation.  This was the 15th annual Police Unity Tour and more than 1,400 law enforcement officers and survivors of the fallen participated—the most ever.  Over three days, they pedaled bicycles hundreds of miles to the National Memorial from starting points in East Hanover, Franklin Township and Howell, New Jersey; as well as Portsmouth and Richmond, Virginia. 

The Police Unity Tour was founded in 1997 by then-Officer, now-Police Chief of Florham Park, New Jersey, Pat Montuore.  Along with Executive Director Harry Phillips, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Waldron, Brian Murphy and many others leading the way, the Police Unity Tour has raised nearly $10 million to support the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.  Their donation last year covered the entire cost of re-engraving and re-painting every name on the National Memorial.  Thanks to the Police Unity Tour’s generosity, the Memorial sparkled for all of our Police Week guests.

Among the thousands of supporters greeting the riders when they arrived at the Memorial on May 12th, was Debbie Greene, the mother of an Alaskan police officer by the name of Anthony “Tony” Wallace.   From a very young age, Tony knew he wanted to become a police officer.  According to Tony’s best friend, “He ate, slept, and dreamt it.  It was the only thing he ever wanted in life.”  Tony was special in many ways.  He was legally deaf, but became an All-American wrestler in college, graduated as valedictorian of his police academy class, and went on to become an outstanding officer with the Hoonah, Alaska Police Department. 

On August 29, 2010, Tony and another officer, Matthew Tokuoka, were shot and killed during an ambush attack.  Compounding the tragedy was the fact that Tony’s mother, Debbie, was in her son’s squad car doing a citizen’s drive along, when the ambush occurred.  She witnessed it all.  By her own admission, Debbie was very lost and alone after Tony’s death.  When she saw the Unity Tour riders come into the Memorial, Debbie knew she would never be alone again.

Dean MacLeod, one of our Museum education specialists from Canada, said it was a special personal moment for him when I acknowledged the presence of three representatives of the Canadian Police and Peace Officers’ Memorial at the Candlelight Vigil.  Many other nations were represented during the Police Week ceremonies, including India, Australia, Israel, Great Britain and New Zealand.  Lisa Jacques, a member of the Ontario Provincial Police, became the first Canadian officer to ride in the Police Unity Tour—a wonderful testament to the solidarity felt by law enforcement officers around the world. 

Vanya Scott, our Acting Senior Director of Museum Programs, was touched by the statue of the Twin Towers that was presented to us at the end of the Blue Valor Run—a motorcycle ride consisting of 100 participants who rode from Ground Zero in New York City to the National Memorial on May 12th.  The inaugural ride was organized by Laurie Tietjen, the sister of Kenneth Tietjen, one of 37 Port Authority police officials who were killed during the rescue effort on 9-11.  The Twin Towers replica, which stands about five feet tall, weighs 160 pounds and bears the names of all 72 officers who died on 9-11, was presented to us by Chairman Ben Caperton of the Twin Towers Initiative.  The Blue Valor Run also raised money for the soon-to-be completed National Law Enforcement Museum, including more than $2,000 raised by Shea Dowling, a six-year-old from Haymarket, Virginia, who sold lemonade to support the cause.

My Executive Assistant, Mary Brown, recalled attending our annual Officer of the Month luncheon and sitting next to a young boy who looked just like her own nephew, Eric (aka “Little Bubby”).  The boy was the son of Osceola County (FL) Corrections Officer Reeshemah Taylor.  The seven-year law enforcement veteran was being honored for putting her own life at risk while assisting a colleague being held at gunpoint.  Corrections Officer Taylor fell victim to the same inmate with a gun.  He pointed it at her head as she entered the cell.  Corrections Officer Taylor knocked the gun away, put the inmate in a headlock and, with her free hand, used her radio to call for backup.  Her son was beaming as his mother’s story was told and she was presented with the Memorial Fund’s February 2010 Officer of the Month Award by United States Drug Czar R. Gil Kerlikowske and “Law and Order:  Criminal Intent” star Vincent D’Onofrio.

Many other stories were shared.  Debra Pearlstein, who worked her first Police Week with us, got a chance to meet one of her favorite television and real-life police stars, “Andrea,” of the “Police Women of Broward County.”  Brian Lacey told how he was able to coordinate the wreathlaying ceremony at the Memorial on May 15th, with flags from each of the 50 states and featuring the U.S. Honor Flag, which has flown at law enforcement and military funerals around the nation.  Orange County (FL) Sheriff Jerry Demings gave a powerful speech at the ceremony, talking about the symbolic importance of the Honor Flag and offering a stirring tribute to one of his own officers, Deputy Brandon L. Coates, who was shot and killed during a traffic stop last December.

Joy Veenstra, a graduate student and Museum intern, talked about meeting a dozen female officers from Great Britain, as well as the man responsible for getting Henry Banks added to the Memorial this year.  Deputy Banks was a Hays County (TX) deputy sheriff who was shot and killed on November 16, 1873.  Krista Humphrey and Debbie Catena said they would never forget their visit at the Memorial wall with Melissa Ayala and her young children, including triplets born after their father, Hector Ayala, a Montgomery County (MD) police officer was killed in a car crash last April.
 
The shared moments would continue long after the restaurant wanted us to leave; from the nearly 1,000 motorcycles that rode into the Memorial during the 16th annual Law Ride, to the hundreds of pipes and drums that played during the 17th annual National Conference of Law Enforcement Emerald Societies march and ceremony. 

The solemn Candlelight Vigil—our signature event for the past 23 years—was a highlight for all of our staff.  Among the highlights that evening was the reading of 316 names being added to the Memorial walls, and moving tributes by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.  “In the large crowd gathered here, too many of our colleagues, friends, and loved ones are missing,” Attorney General Holder observed.  “But, in both spirit and memory, they are still with us.  And their examples will continue to guide and inspire our own efforts to strengthen the cause they served so faithfully and well—the cause of justice, which now is ours to carry forward,” he declared.

Secretary Napolitano captured the essence of the event, stating, “This evening we light candles to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, the American people, and our cherished freedoms, values, and way of life.  Each served a cause greater than themselves and put their dedication to duty above their own personal safety.  For that, we are forever grateful.”

Two other Memorial Fund staff members, Sally Hutchins and Cary Arberg, shared their favorite Police Week memory:  meeting and filming an interview with the surviving spouse and daughter of Oakland (CA) Police Officer Robert Blan.  On May 23, 1973, Robert Blan was shot and killed during a traffic stop.  He was 24 years old and left behind a wife and two young children.  His name was proudly inscribed on the National Memorial when it was dedicated 20 years ago, and his name was read along with the original 12,560 others.

Unfortunately his wife and children were not there to hear it.  In fact, they just learned about the Memorial a year ago.  Daughter Michelle, only six months old when her father was killed, attended her first Memorial candlelight vigil last year.  She said the visit transformed her life and helped heal her troubles.  This year, she came back and brought her mother, Nancy, in hopes that she might experience that same healing.  Nancy told Sally and Cary that she had met other survivors and the healing had definitely begun. 

I included a mention of Michelle and Nancy in my remarks at the Vigil on May 13th, and had the good fortune of meeting them on the street a couple of days later.  After photographs and hugs, I pulled off the bracelet I had worn throughout National Police Week and I handed it to Michelle.  I wanted her to have it as a gift from me and all of the Memorial Fund staff.  It read:  “Heroes Live Forever.”

      
Craig W. Floyd is Chairman of the National law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.  Visit www.lawmemorial.org for more information about law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.