F-M Metro Honors Fallen Officers

129 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty last year

FARGO, N.D. — There’s only one thing law enforcement officers say they fear when they wake up every morning.

“It is the fear every morning you kiss your kids goodbye, that you know that could be the day you don’t come home to your family. It’s something that we think about every day,” said West Fargo Police chief Heith Janke.

Last year, that fear became the reality for 129 officers in the United States who wore their badge, protected communities across the nation and never returned home.

In addition to all those officers who are no longer with us, the F–M community is remembering 140 brothers and sisters in blue and brown who took their own lives as well.

“As law enforcement officers, we deal with an enormous amount of stress. We see things with our eyes that we wish we could unsee, but unfortunately we can’t erase from our minds,” Janke said. “We allow our health to deteriorate by not giving our bodies the attention they need. These work related stresses take too many lives by suicide.”

The ceremony is part of Peace Officers Memorial Day, a national public holiday President Kennedy signed into law on October 1, 1962.

“It’s a time for our entire country to come together to remember those that paid that ultimate sacrifice. It’s not limited to just one city anywhere in the country,” Janke said.

But of course when remembering the fallen, officers couldn’t forget those brothers and sisters they lost close to home and the families of those who passed away.

“Most recently in our community, the family of Fargo police Officer Jason Moszer,” Janke said.

Officers say they will always mourn the loss of a police officer but especially Moszer.

“That’s our duty to never forget that and that’s why we do this every year,” said Fargo Police chief David Todd.

And they’ll continue honoring him the only way they can.

“We show our remembrance every day as law enforcement officers and every day we honor them by going out there and doing our jobs. That never goes away,” Janke said.

So far in 2018, 54 officers across the United States have lost their lives in the line of duty.