WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today honored the lives of four Mississippi law enforcement officers whose names will be unveiled Thursday evening on the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

The Mississippi officers who died in the line of duty are among the 116 fallen law enforcement officers from around the nation who will be honored at a candlelight vigil tonight in Washington as part of the National Police Week 2010. 

“National Police Week provides us with an opportunity to recognize the law enforcement officers who have dedicated themselves to protecting the public.  It is a dangerous but vital profession that often requires these men and women to put their lives on the line,” Cochran said.  “I commend the dedication of our law enforcement personnel in Mississippi, and I offer my sincere respect to those whose names are now engraved on the National Law Enforcement Memorial.”

“Every day, Mississippians are kept safe because of the dedicated service of our law enforcement personnel.  All of our law enforcement officers are brave and deserve our gratitude. Some of them make the ultimate sacrifice and lay down their lives protecting the public,” said Wicker. “National Police Week is a fitting time for us to voice our appreciation for their service and to pay our respects to those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.”

The Mississippians added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial this year include:
• Officer Joseph A. Fulton, Kosciusko Police Department, Nov. 8, 2009
• Master Sgt. Steven L. Hood, Mississippi State Highway Patrol (Guntown), May 29, 2009
• Deputy Paul A. Leblanc Jr., DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department, Dec. 7, 2007
• Deputy Tom R. Wilson III, Warren County Sheriff’s Department, May 17, 2009

With these additions, the names of 203 Mississippi officers are included among the more than 18,000 officers on the memorial.  According to the Memorial’s records, the first law enforcement casualty from the Magnolia State was Claiborne County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Lum, who was killed in November 1878.

In recognition of National Police Week 2010, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution (S.Res.511) honoring federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have been killed or injured in the line of duty.  It recognizes May 15, 2010, as “National Police Officers Memorial Day” and asks the public to “observe that day with appropriate ceremony, solemnity, appreciation, and respect.”  National Police Officers Memorial Day was first designated in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy.

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