The City of Holts Summit is thanking law enforcement officers this week through recently presented proclamations.
At a Holts Summit Board of Aldermen meeting on May 9, two proclamations were presented relating to law enforcement.
The first proclamation formally recognizes May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day in the city.
The second proclamation formally recognizes May 15-21 as National Police Week.
Both proclamations were presented to Holts Summit Police Department officers by Alderman Mark Edwards.
In a Facebook post from Brandon Ruediger, city administrator, he provided some statistics from the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP).
ODMP is a non-profit organization that honors law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.
According to ODMP, there have been 41 line of duty deaths so far in 2023. There were 246 line of duty deaths in 2022, with 1,796 in the last five years and 2,632 in the last ten years.
There has been a total of 26,307 line of duty deaths.
"The City would like to recognize and say thank you to all our police officers and staff at the Holts Summit Police Department for their hard work and dedication to keeping our community safe," Ruediger said in the post. "The City would also like to recognize and say thank you to all the elected officials and members of the community that help and support our police department."
John F. Kennedy proclaimed the first National Peace Officers Memorial Day and National Police Week in 1962, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on Friday nationally designating May as Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week.
"I call upon all Americans to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities and salute our Nation's brave law enforcement officers and remember their peace officer brothers and sisters who have given their last full measure of devotion in the line of duty," Biden said in the proclamation.
All U.S. flags were to be flown at half-staff on Monday in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day.
Three additional proclamations were also presented at the May 9 Board of Aldermen meeting.
April 30-May 6 was recognized as the 54th Annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week, May 7-13 was recognized as Missouri Local Government Week and May 21-27 was recognized as National Public Works Week.