National Police Week

The month of May is an important time of the year for law enforcement officers in Mesquite and all across the nation.This year, Nevada Peace Officers Memorial Day was held May 2, National Correctional Officers Week was celebrated May 5-11, and National Police Week is May 12-18,2019. The most important and solemn day of this month for law enforcement is May 15, when Peace Officers Memorial Day will be observed. This is a time to remember and honor the 21,000 police officers who have died in the line of duty since 1791.

In 2018, 163 officers died in the line of duty and 42 have died so far in 2019. Police officers across the nation frequently respond willingly to dangerous calls for service to deal with tense,uncertain, and rapidly evolving situations. All too often those responding officers make the ultimate sacrifice while working valiantly to keep others safe. Another unfortunate trend that has been on the rise in recent years are the officers who have been killed or assaulted in ambush-style attacks.  

Officers from the smallest towns to the largest cities have fallen protecting their communities. “No department is immune from losing an officer in the line of duty. Mesquite is a very safe city but our officers still train and prepare for the worst,” said Chief MaQuade Chesley. “Some of the training we do is based on incidents in which officers lost their lives. We honor their sacrifice by learning from what happened to them, and working to improve ourselves not only as officers, but as citizen and servants to the community”.

Chesley says everyone in the community can give their respects to fallen officers. “As officers we always remember those that have died. Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day gives us the opportunity to join together with the community to publicly honor them. Those brave men and women deserve our recognition and respect, and we hope Mesquite will help us demonstrate their sacrifice was not in vain”.

The Mesquite Police Department invites the public to join them in remembering the fallen officers by lowering the American flag to half staff at their homes or businesses on May 15.

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