In accordance with Flag Code section 7(m), the United States flag is to be displayed at half-staff for the entire day in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day, Monday, May 15, 2017.
By a joint resolution approved October 1, 1962, as amended (76 Stat. 676), and by Public Law 103-322, as amended (36 U.S.C. 136-137), the President has been authorized and requested to designate May 15 of each year as "Peace Officers Memorial Day" and the week in which it falls as "Police Week."
President John F. Kennedy declared the first Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15, 1962, as a tribute to peace officers and in honor of peace officers who, through their courageous deeds, lost their lives or became disabled in the line of duty. This day has been observed in the country annually ever since.
The CBS DFW reported that the names of 143 officers who died in 2016 are being added to the national memorial in Washington, D.C., including 19 from Texas.
This year’s ceremony remembers the seven officers from Dallas, Euless, DART and SMU who lost their lives in 2016.
The names of more than 21,000 men and women are now included on the memorial walls.