KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As Memorial Day approaches, the Kansas City Police Department paid tribute Thursday to officers killed in the line of duty.
The memorial service to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice throughout the department’s history started at 10 a.m. at police headquarters on Locust Street.
The ceremony included an honor guard, a 21-gun salute, the KCPD Color Guard, bagpipers, a flyover by the police helicopter, and a riderless horse representing fallen officers.
Donna Eddy, sister of fallen Officer Douglas Perry, spoke about her family’s loss as this year marks the 40th anniversary of his death.
Several other surviving family members of fallen officers were also in attendance.
They read off all of the names of all 119 KCPD officers killed in the line of duty – the first in 1881 and the last in 2001.
Police Officer Craig W. Schultz was the last KCPD officer to die in line of duty in 2001. Officer Craig Schultz was killed in a motorcycle crash on I-29 while responding to another crash.
There were 119 flags on display at the ceremony representing each one of these officers. For 119 hours preceding the service, dispatchers read one officer’s name per hour over the police radio system. The last officer’s name, Douglas Perry, was read immediately before the ceremony begins Thursday.
You can replay the ceremony in the video player above.
