Sheriff Vern Warnke welcomes those in attendance at the annual Peace Officer’s Memorial Ceremony.
Merced Police Chief Chris Goodwin speaks about the daily sacrifices police officers make to protect communities.
The Merced Marching 100 performs during the Peace Officers Memorial service.
A salute to those officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty to protect local communities.
Local law enforcement heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty were honored during the 14th annual Merced County Peace Officer’s Memorial Ceremony last week in front of a memorial wall outside of the County Administration Building.
The ceremony was organized by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, and attended by representatives of police agencies throughout the county and beyond, members of the youth Explorer program, local political leaders, staff members of various county departments, and band members from Merced High School.
“The groups that are here represent the love that we have for our law enforcement community,” Sheriff Vern Warnke said. “With all the tragedy that’s been going on with our agencies, it’s very refreshing to see our young people stepping up to take our places when we are no longer doing the service.”
Los Banos Police Chief Gary Brizzee and UC Merced Police Chief Chou Her read out loud the names of 17 fallen officers.
Merced Police Chief Chris Goodwin noted that more than 100 officers were killed nationwide in 2018.
“Eleven were killed in California alone, which included Newman Police Corporal Ronil Singh from our neighboring county,” he said. “Our officers do a very hard job; most of the time thankless. … Working weekends and holidays when their friends are with their family. Working nights and sleeping during the day and we need your support more now than we ever have, not only when bad things happen.”