The symbolic and literal blue is everywhere in Judiciary Square May 12-19, where the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is located in Washington, D.C., that bears the names of 19,660 officers on two great curved walls honoring their service and remembering their sacrifice. A flood of blue-and-white Unity Tour riders who fill the Memorial on Saturday, the white of the paper and blue pencil used to make an etching of a name engraved on the Memorial and a crowd of an estimated 20,000 law enforcement officers, survivors and supporters who stream into the Square all the way out to E Street and onto the steps of the D.C. Court of Appeals building.
The Candlelight Vigil includes a symbolic blue line lighting effect (see picture #3 on Page 38), where a royal blue laser representing the thin blue line is projected from the ceremony stage out above grounds, nearly parallel but tilted slightly up, into sky. During the Thin Blue Line laser show portion of the Vigil, a recording of NLEOMF chairman and CEO, Craig Floyd, is played reciting the following: "Tonight, with candles aglow, we join together in memory of many, in honor of all. They are our peacemakers; those who put the welfare of others above their own. America’s Thin Blue Line protecting the lawful from the lawless.
"This monument that embraces us pays tribute to their heroic spirit. It is also a symbol of the thanks that too often goes unspoken."
The following is a collection of photos taken over the course of a few days that tell this year’s Police Week stories.
Editors Note: View the photo collection in the LET: digital edition.
Tabatha Wethal | Editor
Award-winning writer Tabatha Wethal is a previous editor leading Law Enforcement Technology magazine and assisted with other publications. She was with the magazines since 2007.
