Key West The Newspaper

People all over the nation sleep a little easier at night knowing that law enforcement officers are out there keeping them safe. These officers dedicate their lives protecting and serving their communities so that residents lives are safe and peaceful. Yet, every year some of them make the ultimate sacrifice for the ease and the security the rest of us enjoy.

On Friday, May 19th the community will have the opportunity to pay tribute to those brave men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. The annual Law Enforcement Day Memorial Service begins at 5:30 p.m. at Bayview Park in Key West.

Hosted by the Key West Police Department and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the ceremony includes a traditional laying of the wreath and a 21-gun salute.

Nationally, 145 officers were killed in the line of duty in 2016. In Florida, six officers were killed. Monroe County did not lose an officer in 2016.

The names of Keys officers who have died in the line of duty will be read as a special remembrance during the ceremony:

• MCSO Deputy Frank Adams, shot in 1901 while attempting to arrest a disorderly man.
• KWPD Officer Clarence Till, killed in 1904 with his own gun while handling a disturbance call.
• MCSO Deputy Guy Bradley, a Game Warden shot in 1905 by a poacher.
• KWPD Officer Norman Drew, killed in 1975 in a motorcycle accident.
• MCSO Deputy David Cormier, killed in 1989 in an automobile accident.
• MCSO Deputy Michael Alexander, killed in 1998 in an automobile accident.
• KWPD Detective John Piskator, died in 2006 as a result of a heart attack.
• MCSO Deputy Robin Tanner, killed in 2007 in an automobile accident.
• MCSO Deputy Nick Pham, killed in 2008 in an automobile accident.
• MCSO Deputy Melissa Powers, killed in 2010 in an automobile accident.

Everyone in the community is encouraged to come out and join local law enforcement officers and city officials in honoring those men and women who sacrificed their lives for us.

In the attached photo: Key West Police Officer Matt Hansel readying to play Taps at the 2016 Law Enforcement Memorial.