Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A week from Sunday, Centralia Police Department Chief Bob Berg will attend a candlelight vigil in Washington D.C. as the name of a Centralia officer is added to the National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial wall.

Officer William Smith

Centralia Police Officer William Smith was killed in the line of duty on Dec. 23, 1910, but the nomination for inclusion on the wall was only recently accepted following the department’ discovery of details of Smith’s death in an old newspaper article, according to Berg.

Smith’s name will join that of Centralia Deputy Marshal James C.A. Parsons killed in the line of duty June 30, 1903 and inscribed on the marble wall eight years ago.

They are among the names of more than 19,000 officers killed in the line of duty and engraved on the two curving 300-plus feet blue-gray marble walls in a place called Judiciary Square, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Fund.

The ceremony comes two days before National Peace Officers’ Memorial Day, established by the United States Congress as a day for recognition of those officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their communities, according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department.

In advance of the week, Centralia officers and department employees will be recognized on Tuesday night for their courage, service and sacrifice, according to Berg.

At the city council meeting, departmental awards will be presented, to include two lifesaving ribbons, two certificates of commendation and employees of the year.

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2012 at 5:44 pm and is filed under News briefs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.