On May 19, the Cranston Police Department held their 20th Memorial Service at police headquarters on Garfield Avenue to honor those who served the community and have either passed on or died in the line of duty.

Each May, law enforcement officers of every rank from across the country travel to Washington, D.C., home of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. The memorial pays tribute to all fallen police officers of our nation.

The late Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island played a role in the development of this tribute to law enforcement officers, as he was the original sponsor of the Senate legislation to establish the National Law Officers Enforcement Memorial Fund.

According to the program provided at the Cranston memorial, Senator Pell once wrote, “No memorial could properly repay the service that the men and women of law enforcement perform 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. However, we can give special recognition and honor to those members of law enforcement community who have paid the ultimate price and died in the line of duty. This recognition is especially critical at a time when we are often asking our police to do more with fewer resources.”

In today’s economy, the resources are even less; yet the men and women who serve with the Cranston Police Department are still there to serve and protect the Cranston community.

The memorial this year was perhaps more somber with the most recent death of Patrolman Maxwell Dorley from the Providence Police Department, who died in the line of duty in April.

The sound of bagpipes welcomed guests, provided by Lt. Tom Rimoshytus of the Cranston Fire Department. Prior to the formal programming, the people in attendance passed their time catching up on news of family and friends.

In Cranston, this was the 20th observance held. Sadly, the names of three Cranston Police Officers are carved on the walls of the Memorial at Cranston Police Headquarters, along with 38 other Rhode Island officers. Those who have died in the line of duty in Cranston were former Police Chief John Bigbee (1908), Henry R. Johnson (1930) and Walter Busby (1979). Together, it is estimated that these fallen police officers, of all ranks, were among the approximately 19,000 other law enforcement officers nationally.