LAKEWOOD — Dozens of retired and active-duty law enforcement officers from several Florida counties paused on a hot summer’s morning to remember their fallen comrades.
Click here for photos from the summit>>
Participants, including Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa officers, family members and residents, attended the Florida Cops on Top Summit for Heroes ceremony June 25 on Britton Hill in Lakewood, Florida’s highest point.
Members of the Walton County Sheriff’s office Honor Guard, including master of ceremonies Deputy Artie Rodriguez, conducted the event, which concluded with a rifle salute.
Click here for a video from the summit>>
Among speakers was Joe Forgione, who described how the Concerns of Police Survivors, or C.O.P.S., program benefits his family.
Forgione — the brother of slain Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Anthony Forgione, who was killed in the line of duty in July 2008 — is president of C.O.P.S.’ Northwest Florida chapter.
NAMES OF THE SLAIN
“Each year, between 140 and 160 (American law enforcement) officers are killed in the line of duty, and their families and co-workers are left to carry on,” Forgione said. “This program has helped me through my journey. It helped my mom and all the survivors.”
During the nationwide observance — during which law enforcement officers gather at their respective state’s highest point — the names of each state’s officers slain the previous year are read.
Here, they included:
●Deputy William Myers, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: Sept. 22, 2015
●Officer Jerry Forsythe, Ocala Police Department, end of watch: April 6, 2015
●Special Agent William Sheldon, Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, end of watch: March 2, 2015
●Special Agent Adriamna Vorderbruggen, U.S. Air Force OSI, Eglin Air Force Base, Dec. 21, 2015
●K9 Jimmy, Hialeah Police Dept., end of watch: May 27, 2015
●K9 Hector, Hialeah Police Department, end of watch: May 27, 2015
●K9 Igor, Kissimmee Police Department, end of watch: April 21, 2015
“This year we have four names, and the names of three K9 officers,” Rodriguez said. “I hope we can meet here in the future and not have any names to read.”
‘SOBERING EXPERIENCE’
“It’s a sobering experience,” OCSO Lt. Ken Christmas said of the annual gathering.
The Lakewood ceremony also drew about three dozen motorcyclists from several Blue Knights Chapters, the international police motorcycle club; two members of firefighters’ Red Knights club; and an Eglin Air Force Base member of the Green Knights, a motorcycle club for U.S. military members.
Milton Blue Knights Chapter XXXI President Bill Brandenburg, whose group led the multi-county procession from Santa Rosa County to Lakewood, said the clubs are raising funds to erect a permanent memorial on Britton Hill.
“Our goal is to make this a place so not just this day, but any day, our officers and family members can come here and pay their respects,” he said.
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NORTHWEST FLORIDA C.O.P.S.
Between 140 and 160 officers annually die in the line of duty, and their families and co-workers are left to cope with the tragic loss. Concerns of Police Survivors, or C.O.P.S., provides resources to help them.
C.O.P.S. was organized in 1984 with 110 individual members. Today, C.O.P.S. has more than 50 chapters nationwide, with more than 37,000 families as members. C.O.P.S. is governed by a national board of law enforcement survivors.
Services are provided through charitable contributions. See www.nationalcops.org or contact Northwest Florida Chapter President Joey Forgione, 685-6084 or forgione.nwfcops@gmail.com, for information on donating.
Source: www.nationalcops.org
HONORING FLORIDA’S FALLEN
These officers were killed in the line of duty during the past year. There names were read during the Cops on Top ceremony:
Dep. William Myers, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: Sept. 22, 2015
Officer Jerry Forsythe, Ocala Police Dept, end of watch: April 6, 2015
Special Agent William Sheldon, Dept. of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, end of watch: Mar. 2, 2015
Special Agent Adriamna Vorderbruggen, U.S. Air Force OSI, Eglin Air Force Base, Dec. 21, 2015
K9 Jimmy, Hialeah Police Dept., end of watch: May 27, 2015
K9 Hector, Hialeah Police Dept., end of watch: May 27, 2015
K9 Igor, Kissimmee Police Dept., end of watch: April 21, 2015
Between 140 and 160 officers annually die in the line of duty, and their families and co-workers are left to cope with the tragic loss. Concerns of Police Survivors, or C.O.P.S., provides resources to help them.
C.O.P.S. was organized in 1984 with 110 individual members. Today, C.O.P.S. has more than 50 chapters nationwide, with more than 37,000 families as members. C.O.P.S. is governed by a national board of law enforcement survivors.
Services are provided through charitable contributions. See www.nationalcops.org or contact Northwest Florida Chapter President Joey Forgione, 685-6084 or forgione.nwfcops@gmail.com, for information on donating.
Source: www.nationalcops.org
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HONORING FLORIDA’S FALLEN
These officers were killed in the line of duty during the past year. There names were read during the Cops on Top ceremony:
Dep. William Myers, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: Sept. 22, 2015
Officer Jerry Forsythe, Ocala Police Dept, end of watch: April 6, 2015
Special Agent William Sheldon, Dept. of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, end of watch: Mar. 2, 2015
Special Agent Adriamna Vorderbruggen, U.S. Air Force OSI, Eglin Air Force Base, Dec. 21, 2015
K9 Jimmy, Hialeah Police Dept., end of watch: May 27, 2015
K9 Hector, Hialeah Police Dept., end of watch: May 27, 2015
K9 Igor, Kissimmee Police Dept., end of watch: April 21, 2015
NORTHWEST FLORIDA C.O.P.S.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gathering supports fallen officers' families, pays respect (PHOTOS, VIDEO)