48th Annual Arizona Peace Officers Memorial Service held at state capitol

PHOENIX - At the Arizona State Capitol on the night of May 2 was the 48th Annual Arizona Peace Officers Memorial Service, honoring some of the most recent Arizona law enforcement members who were killed in the line of duty.

Twenty-six names were read aloud of law enforcement members from all over the state who died in 2021. They will be added to a wall where 388 names have been engraved into stone.

Family and friends of the fallen officers, and law enforcement from federal, state and local departments, attended the service to hear the names of the fallen read out loud.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Governor Doug Ducey both spoke and took a turn laying a rose at the bottom of the memorial in their honor.

Many of the names read aloud were from our local departments, including the Chandler Police Department, Phoenix Police Department and Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Gov. Ducey at the podium brought attention to all the dangers of the job, including the dozen of these deaths because of COVID-19. He also drew attention to the rise in crime against law enforcement nationally and how it's affecting those in Arizona.

"I'm disheartened to say that this year, more officers died in the line of duty than the previous two years combined. That's not a coincidence. Attacks on law enforcement are becoming more and more common. We saw that in February when a man ambushed and critically injured multiple Phoenix Police officers," Ducey remarked.

The service was complete with a motorcycle procession, presentation of the colors, roll call of those who died, and a rifle salute.