OKLAHOMA CITY – The House today adopted a resolution recognizing the week of May 9-15 as National Police Week and May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day.

House Resolution 1032 by Rep. Ross Ford, R-Broken Arrow, notes that on Oct. 1, 1962, the United States Congress approved a joint resolution authorizing the President of the United States to designate May 15 of each year as Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of law enforcement officers who have been killed, disabled or otherwise injured in the line of duty. The calendar week during which May 15 occurs is designated as National Police Week.

President John F. Kennedy, in 1963, was the first president to mark the observance.

“Our law officers work to keep the public safe at great personal risk and sacrifice to themselves and their families,” said Ford, a 27-year veteran Tulsa Police Officer. “They go to work each day sworn to pursue justice for everyone they serve. They perform their duties with honor and dignity, and they deserve our most heartfelt thanks and appreciation for their bravery, their vigilance and their selflessness.”

HR1032 notes that last year 119 law enforcement officers across the United States made the ultimate sacrifice, dying while in the line of duty. Seven of those deaths were Oklahoma officers, four from COVID-19.

Those remembered are: Cpl. Kyle Davis, Washington County Sheriff’s Office; Police Officer Matt North, Bernice Police Department; Chief Deputy Sheriff Lindal Dewayne Hall, McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office; Capt. Billy Allen, Fort Sill Police Department; Police Officer Jerad Lindsey, Tulsa Police Department; Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Jeffrey Sewell; and Sgt. Craig Johnson, Tulsa Police Department.

The resolution honors the memory of the hundreds of law enforcement officers who have given their lives in the line of duty in this state and throughout the United States. HR 1030 also states that the Oklahoma House of Representatives expresses strong support for law enforcement officers in Oklahoma and across the United States in the efforts that those officers undertake to build safer and more secure communities.