A Way To Honor Those Who Have Given The Ultimate Sacrifice

National Police Week is coming, and those you have sacrificed their life will be honored at a program in Rochester on May 18th.

National Police Week is May 11th through the 18th, and the Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation of Southeastern Minnesota has been fundraising in hopes to build a local Law Enforcement Memorial to honor those that have given the ultimate sacrifice for us.

The memorial will be located at Soldiers Field Park in Rochester, which is also the location of the Law Enforcement Memorial Program which will be Friday, May 18th at 5:30 pm. The service will be held outside with a rainout site also available.

Fillmore County Sheriff Tom Kaase serves as a board member on the foundation called it a true honor.

"I have the honor and privilege of being a board member of this foundation. To be a part of a group that is making a local memorial for Deputy Kruegel and Officer Meyer a reality is truly an honor!"

Fillmore County Deputy Walter William Kruegel, 59 years of age, died in the line of duty on November 10th 1954. Grand Meadow Officer Jason Brent Meyer, 28 years of age, from Spring Valley, died in the line of duty on September 6th, 1999. To read the details of their sacrifice in the line of duty, as well as all the southeastern Minnesota Law Enforcement Officers who have died in the line of duty, please go here.

During this year’s National Police Week and National Peace Officer Memorial Day, the lives of 129 law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty in 2017 will be nationally recognized at the Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D. C. This “in the line of duty death” number has decreased 10% from 2016, which was 143.

An additional tragic part of our law enforcement profession is that in 2017 there were 140 suicides by law enforcement officers. This number also recognizes the toll of the pressures that affects the lives and families of officers in their careers.

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