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Peace Officer Memorial
Group of Stanislaus County |
In 2002, it was decided that the people of Stanislaus County were not as informed as they could be about those members of our community who had given their lives to keep the community safe. At that time, the Peace Officer Memorial Group of Stanislaus County was formed. Its primary goals are to educate the public about officers who die in the line of duty, to support and assist the families of those officers, and to raise public awareness about and attendance at the Stanislaus County, State and National memorials for fallen officers.
On October 1, 1962, President John F. Kennedy
signed Public Law 87-726, making May 15th Peace Officer Memorial Day to
honor those peace officers who gave their lives in the line of duty.
This honorable day has since been turned into National Peace Officer
Memorial Week, which will be May 13th through the 19th this year. The Peace
Officer Memorial Week Committee, made up of members from all law enforcement
agencies in Stanislaus County, planned some special events for May each
year.
May 3rd - Foot Pursuit. Area law
enforcement joined together with community members at East La Loma Park for
a one mile run and 5K/10K road race. This year, 78 runners showed with
the age range between 3 and 78! Results are posted here.
Next year's race is May 2nd so save the date and check back here for a
printable application.
May 6th- Sweet Peace Bake Sale Fund-raiser - We had cookies, cake by the slice, cupcakes, and other homemade goodies at the Modesto Police Department starting at 10 am. There was a live auction starting at 11:30. Items auctioned included the favorite desserts of local fallen heroes Howie Stevenson (Ceres Police - apple pie & his dad's rum cake), Leo "Bobby" Volk (Modesto Police - lemon meringue pie) Earl Scott (CHP - pizza pie) and Bob Winget (Ripon PD - brownies). We raised over $1000 thanks to the kindness and generosity of department employees and the public.
May 7th - Stanislaus County Peace Officer Memorial at Lakewood Memorial Park ( www.scpoanews.com ). Area law enforcement agencies came together at 10:00 am to remember the 186 peace officers nationwide and the 10 peace officers in California who gave their lives in 2007 as well as the 13 Stanislaus County Peace Officers who have given their lives since 1935. The ceremony was beautiful.
May 9th - California Peace Officer Memorial at the Capitol in Sacramento. Law enforcement from throughout California attend this event. The ceremony was beautiful with thousands in attendance. This ceremony occurs every year at the Peace Officer Memorial monument located across from the Capitol building. Check here for fallen officer information.
May 15th - Peace Officer Memorial Day. By order of the President
of the United States, flags are flown at half staff this day to honor the
officers across the nation whose lives have been lost in the line of duty.
We commemorated this
special day with a Vigil at 6:30 pm at Earl Scott Park in Hughson.
There was a dedication ceremony for the park. There was also a short program
and a balloon release. It was beautiful and touching.
May 17th/18th is the Oakdale Chocolate Festival and
the Peace Officer
Memorial Group will be there with an information booth and displays about
our fallen officers. We'll also have some t-shirts, patches and pins
for sale.
May 24th is the May Day Motorcycle Run. This run will begin at
Mitchell’s Harley Davidson, 500 N. Carpenter Road, Modesto at 10:30 am.
Pre-registration and formation will begin at 9 am. The run is in honor of
Sgt Steve May , injured in a traffic collision on 7-29-02 who has never
regained consciousness.
Application,
poster and release
of
liability are available here.
In 2007, numerous businesses in Stanislaus County took the opportunity to help the Peace Officer Memorial Group by their sponsorship of taglines on the Group's banners. Our deepest thanks go out to these businesses, listed on this page. These banners were displayed in downtown Modesto, downtown Ceres and downtown Hughson.
Anyone interested in sponsoring a tagline for 2008 should contact Gail Smith before April 15th..
Locally, thirteen men have given their lives to keep our community safe. These men are honored in this year's Memorial Group brochure.
