WASHINGTON, D.C.— Three Ohio police departments are wrapping up a bittersweet trip to the nation's capital for National Police Week.
With the sounds of bag pipes and drums playing, to reflective silence, the National Law Enforcement Memorial filled with thousands this week to honor the fallen.
“Our main goal is just to make sure that the officers have time to reflect here and that the families are taken care of. It’s just important to recognize Tony and Eric and their heroism,” said Charles Chandler, the interim chief of the Westerville, Ohio Police Department.
Chandler led 50 of his officers to Washington this year to remember two of their own.
Officers Eric Joering and Anthony ‘Tony’ Morelli were shot and killed on the job last year— the first two officers in Westerville’s history lost in the line of duty.
“I think it helps to see everyone else here,” Chandler said. “Most people here have a story of a loved one or a friend or a coworker that they lost. And I think events like this are just good for everyone to come together and realize that there are a group of people that have a common purpose.”
The doors to Joering and Morelli’s police cruisers now stand guard at the memorial.
“We can’t begin to repay the debt we owe them and their families, but can work harder, frankly, Madame President, to support their families and their fellow officers as they work to keep our communities safe,” Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said on the Senate floor this week.
National Police Week is recognized in many forms in Washington.
There's the ever-growing memorial, with thousands of names etched into it; a candlelight vigil that takes place; and President Trump even spoke before a large crowd gathered outside the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon.
“Your loved ones were extraordinary and selfless Americans who gave everything they had in defense of our communities, our children and our nation,” Trump said.
Two other Ohio police officers — Mathew Mazany, of Mentor, and Vu Nguyen, of Cleveland, also lost their lives last year, and now join their fellow brothers and sisters in blue on the wall.
“I hope it sticks with people that there are people in this country that are willing to make sacrifices — even sacrifice their lives — to protect those that can’t protect themselves,” Chandler said. “And I hope they understand how our freedom is paid for, and this is one of the ways that our freedom is paid for.”
Sen. Brown and Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (R-16) introduced new legislation on Wednesday to help improve police training.
And speaking on the Senate floor earlier this week, Brown offered the sobering reminder that the names of two more Ohio police officers will be added to the Memorial next year because they died in the line of duty in the last few months.
