WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Thad Cochran, R-Miss., today offered tributes as part of National Police Week to honor the Mississippi law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

The Wicker and Cochran tributes were offered in advance of the 34th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Service at the U.S. Capitol on Friday morning. This year, the annual commemoration honors officers who died in the line of duty in 2014, including Master Sgt. John Thomas Collum of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and Deputy Sheriff John Robert Street of the George County Sheriff’s Department.

The murder of two Hattiesburg Police Department officers, Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate, over the Mother’s Day weekend lent a special sadness to the Senators’ tributes to the 2014 fallen.

“National Police Week is a time to honor and thank law enforcement officers for their selfless service,” Wicker said. “We mourn Mississippi officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, courageously protecting our communities. Hattiesburg Officers Deen and Tate, Master Sergeant Collum, and Deputy Sheriff Street will not be soon forgotten.”

“The senseless murders of Officers Deen and Tate in Hattiesburg this past weekend make this year’s National Police Week commemoration especially heartbreaking,” Cochran said. “I look forward to a time when there isn’t a single lost Mississippi officer to be commemorated during National Police Week. As it is, we know that being a law enforcement officer is a dangerous but necessary profession. The legacy of fallen officers, like Master Sergeant Collum and Deputy Sheriff Street, will deepen the appreciation and admiration we hold for their commitment to duty, honor and courage.”

Friday’s memorial service at the U.S. Capitol is hosted by the Fraternal Order of Police/Fraternal Order of Police Auxiliary (FOP/FOPA). The overall national observance is organized by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Concerns of Police Survivors and FOP/FOPA.

In preparation for a week of events to honor fallen officers, the names of Collum and Street were added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial. Collum, 56, died May 9, 2014, after being struck by a vehicle while on foot (http://bit.ly/1L0Erpo). Street, 24, was killed in a crash while responding to a separate accident (http://bit.ly/1zYV9Ex).

The two Mississippi officers were among 117 local, state and federal officers who died in 2014 in the line of duty and whose names were placed on the memorial this year. The newly added names were formally dedicated at a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening. There are now a total of 20,538 officers honored on the Memorial.

National Police Officers Memorial Day was first designated in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy.


LINKS:
• National Police Week: http://www.policeweek.org/
• National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund: http://www.nleomf.org/