LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Men and women who died in the line of duty will be remembered on Tuesday during National Peace Officers Memorial Day.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week.
This year, National Police Week is from Sunday, May 13, through Saturday, May 19.
Since the first recorded death in 1791, almost 20,000 law enforcement officers in the United States have made the ultimate sacrifice and been killed in the line of duty.
Three Lake County law enforcement officers who have been killed on the job are commemorated at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.
They are Sheriff George W. Kemp, May 1910; Deputy Sheriff William Hoyt, October 1967; and Sgt. Richard Helbush, May 1981.
A fourth man, Deputy Harry Snowbelt, was reportedly shot to death in Lower Lake in October 1937. His name is not listed in the memorial.
There are approximately 900,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States.
Nearly 60,000 assaults against law enforcement officers are reported each year, resulting in approximately 16,000 injuries.
The service and sacrifice of all officers killed in the line of duty were honored during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund’s 24th Annual Candlelight Vigil, held on the evening of Sunday, May 13, in Washington, D.C.