Community honors fallen officers during National Police Week
DOVER (WJER) (May 16, 2025) – The public is getting to display and express gratitude to those who have taken an oath to serve and protect their communities.
This is National Police Week. It all centers around Peace Officers Memorial Day – which was Thursday – as first established in the 1960s under President John F. Kennedy as a day to honor police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Retired Dover Police Captain and current city Safety Director Bob Everett says National Police Week involves days of touching and emotional ceremonies and events in Washington DC, which in some years attract up to 40,000 officers, family members and others.
Government buildings were required to lower flags to half-staff for the occasion Thursday.
Everett says residents can also show their support by ways such as lowering their own flags, using blue porch lights at night, or just going up to an officer to say “thank you.”
Some police departments online have been sharing pictures thanking residents for dropping off food to their stations this week. Everett says that’s also a greatly appreciated gesture.