Ways to Honor and Remember Fallen Police Officers

National Police Week falls during the week of May 15th every year (the actual dates surrounding the week change every year) but May 15th is always National Peace Officer’s Memorial Day.

Police Week is a time to honor and remember officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. It is not meant to be a celebratory week but instead to honor and give support.

But you also don’t need a special week to honor and remember those we have lost- you can do it any day of the year.

So how can you honor and remember fallen officers?

Any thought goes a long way but here are a few ideas to help you get started:

Donate to an organization that helps give back to families who have lost an officer.

A few trusted organizations are:

Concerns of Police Survivors

This page on their site shows ways to offer support including the Garden of Hope Paver Project.

Officer Down Memorial Page (which also has a bike ride and many ways to offer support)

Get involved in causes like Law Enforcement United.

This is a bike ride that honors the fallen and remember the survivors all based on volunteers.

Visit the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C. or other memorials for fallen officers around the nation.

This is a great way to pay respect to those we have lost.

Donate to an organization in an officer’s name.

A great place to do that is with the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Fund.

Fly a thin blue line flag in honor of a fallen officer during Police Week (or any time of year).

If you don’t feel comfortable, you could even fly a garden flag in your backyard so it is less visible.

Reach out to local departments and give donations of snacks or food in an officer’s name.

Give back to the family members of fallen officer’s.

This one many be harder to do if you are not associated with the department of the fallen and family. When an officer dies, we often see Go Fund Me’s or fundraisers for the families which are incredible ways to support them. But the fact is, these families need support LONG AFTER the fundraisers die down. Reaching out to the departments to see what they may need is a good place to start if you do not know them personally.

If you decide to donate to fundraisers, I HIGHLY recommend you make sure any donations going to families are VERIFIED ones. Sadly, people scam and take advantage and I’ve seen this too many times. All fundraisers should be approved by the family and should state this.

If you have any others ideas that you have seen done or you’ve done yourself, please share so they can be added!