PEACE OFFICERS’ MEMORIAL
May 20, 2009

Good morning, family and friends of our fallen Officers and my Law Enforcement colleagues.

It is a privilege for me to speak on this, the annual occasion that we publicly recognize the 48 Officers and Deputies whose names are preserved on our Peace Officers’ Memorial. I am especially grateful that for the fourth consecutive year no additional names were placed on this Memorial. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of California, as well as our nation.

Our chosen profession exposes each one of us to many risks. So why have generations of Law Enforcement Officers assumed those risks? The reward is a career in which one makes a difference in the lives of our fellow citizens. Since the beginning, our Law Enforcement personnel have directly contributed to saving lives, lowering crime and making our communities safer. It is our responsibility and our honor to play a key role in providing an environment that is safe, secure and just. It is an unfortunate reality in our world that there are forces among us that constantly work to tear the fabric of our communities apart. The 48 Peace Officers we are honoring here today gave their lives for their fellow citizens in their efforts to preserve our collective safety and security. 

On December 16, 1912, Under-Sheriff Robert Squires of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was shot and killed in a gun battle with an outlaw who had attacked a 16-year-old girl. Since that time, an additional 47 members of Law Enforcement have lost their lives as a result of their efforts to provide for the safety of the citizens of Orange County. These 48 individuals were not only Peace Officers but family members, friends and fellow citizens. Each of these individuals was a unique person, and yet there were common denominators between each of them spanning the decades:

• They were role models.
• They each made a decision to contribute to the safety and security of our communities.
• They each took an Oath to carry out their duties with honor, courage and integrity.
• As a result of their decision to dedicate themselves to the safety of the citizens of Orange County, they lost their lives doing so.

This ceremony represents our commemoration of the sacrifice that these Officers and Deputies made. It is a special time of remembrance and a time to pay tribute.

The traditions associated with this ceremony are extremely important to all of us. It is vital that we never lapse in our duty to publicly recognize not only the sacrifice but the great contributions made by each of our fallen colleagues.

Our ceremony today also represents an opportunity for us to recognize the sacrifice made by their families. Just as it takes courage, commitment and dedication to be a Peace Officer, the same requirements apply to the families that support them. In addition to the challenges that all Law Enforcement families face, the families of the Officers and Deputies memorialized here have been confronted with the most difficult situation of all--the death of their loved one was a life-changing event, testing their faith and their courage. I appreciate very much the opportunity to reaffirm to the family members of our fallen Officers our support, our sorrow and our admiration of your courage as you have coped with tremendous loss.

As the roll call is read today of those members who have given their lives, we must each remember them not only for how they died, but for how they lived. Each of these Law Enforcement Officers made a difference in peoples’ lives every day of their career. In ways both large and small, these individuals lived the Oath that they took; and we are all better for it. The 48 Peace Officers whose names are engraved on our Memorial gave to us and their communities something that can never be repaid. Even so, it is fitting that we do everything possible to honor their memories and their sacrifice by publicly acknowledging our debt to them and their loved ones.

On behalf of my colleagues of the Orange County Chiefs’ of Police and Sheriff’s Association, my thanks to each of you for coming together to honor the lives and the memories of Orange County’s fallen Peace Officers. May their sacrifice serve to inspire each of us to carry out our duties in a manner that honors them.

Thank you.

Read Chief Paul Sorrell's opening comments at the 2009 Candle Light Vigil