“To members of law enforcement and your families, know not a single day or a single week is enough to recognize your service and sacrifice.”
At 10 a.m. Thursday morning, Morgantown Mayor Jennifer Selin read aloud the city’s proclamation to declare May 15, 2022, Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Day in front of the Morgantown Public Safety Building on Spruce Street, for the annual memorial wreath-laying ceremony.
Members of law enforcement agencies from across Monongalia County, along with city officials and members of the public, looked on as officers from the MPD presented the wreath, which was decorated with blue and white roses and a single red rose at the bottom.
The yearly ceremony is in recognition of National Police Week, celebrated May 11-17 this year. The event is a time set aside to pay tribute to the local, state and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty.
“This is a special week for law enforcement around the country,” Morgantown Police Chief Eric Powell said as he welcomed the crowd. “Obviously, it has a lot of meaning for both the sheriff’s department and our department as we have lost, in the not-so-distant past, Sergeant May of the sheriff’s department and Officer Fidazzo from ours.”
Law enforcement officers are the “guardians of life and honor, defenders of the individual right to be free, warriors in a battle against crime,” the mayor proclaimed. They ensure health and safety and respond to “incidents of domestic violence, substance abuse disorders, health challenges, and homelessness — often with limited resources.”
The proclamation included a section recognizing the county’s two fallen officers, May and Fidazzo, who both lost their lives in the line of duty, as well as fallen officers state- and nationwide.
“I think it’s important each year that we recognize all the fallen officers throughout the United States and other countries [as well],” said Monongalia County Sheriff Perry Palmer after the ceremony. “It hits close to home for us, as it does the city, losing one of our own, Sergeant Todd May.
“It’s a job that the guys that get into know they have a chance not to come home to their families,” he continued. “So I think it’s important we continue to memorialize them and make sure the public knows that we’re out there for them.”
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