Back from Police Week

OK, I'm back from Police Week, having spent a few days down in Washington DC to mingle with cops from all over the world. Lagniappe did not come along--he stayed back here to guard the Lair and my neighbors popped in and fed him, walked him, and subjected him to the exhaustive tortures of their six year old boy whom Lagniappe loves to play with. I think that he was relieved to have me back.

Police Week 2009 was quite the event. Officers came from all around the world, from small departments to large ones, to honor those fallen in the line of duty. This year, we gathered to honor the 140 American police officers killed in 2008 as well as to remember the over 18,000 law enforcement officers who have given their lives in the line of duty to date. Police officers and their survivors filled the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC. The walls of the memorial were covered with tributes to those who died in the line of duty, and many of them served to remind us that each one was a man or woman left behind family, friends and peers. Please click on these pictures to see them as they ought really be viewed.

























































Nate Burnfield. Shane Miller. William Burkett. Ricky Timbrook. Joshua Miktarian. Kathy Ann Cox. Thomas McMeekin Jr.. Thomas Morash. David Wilhelm. Scott Stewart. Just a few of the many names. My brothers and sister in blue. Gone now, along with so many others. But never, ever, forgotten.