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Senator Robert C. Jubelirer
Police Memorial Ceremony
May 9, 2005
Our national involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan has
given Americans fresh lessons on concepts such as duty, service, and sacrifice.
The daily extreme dangers in Baghdad and Kabul
neighborhoods should not cause anyone to overlook the hazards and risks of
fighting crime and responding to emergencies in Pennsylvania’s communities.
We are reminded of the cost with each tragic report
that a police officer has been harmed or killed. Not a day goes by without
peril; not a year passes without some loss.
The sad truth is that an individual with a weapon
who makes bad decisions, or a reckless driver who makes bad decisions, or an
out-of-control anger case who makes bad decisions, can be as deadly as a
terrorist or an insurgent.
It is right and proper that we hold a police
memorial ceremony each year, to remember and to honor those who have fallen as
they protected our communities. There is a special devotion to duty that these
individuals displayed. The many thousands of officers wearing the uniform and
the badge across the state mean that millions of Pennsylvanians are safer and
more secure, and we pray for their safety too.
For the families, for their fellow officers, for the
communities they served, there is nothing we can say that compensates for the
loss. But there is something we can do. We can learn the hard lessons about
what to do better, about where the system has failed, about where there are
flaws that we must find and fix.
We must ensure that our laws are sufficient, that
the numbers of uniformed protectors are sufficient, and that the equipment and
training and leadership are sufficient. We must make certain that our
commitment to fighting crime does not flag. We must not surrender to the notion
that we cannot afford to lock up the bad guys.
As drug use undergoes a resurgence, the dangers to
law enforcement intensify. From the heroin pipeline to the meth labs, drug
trafficking is causing crime to rise and human tragedy to increase.
Manpower matters, and whether at the state or local
levels, public safety must be more than a make-do item. To the greatest extent
possible, we need to protect our law enforcement officials as they protect us.
We shall honor them, in our hearts, and in the
respect and support we show for the law enforcement community and their work at
protecting us. There is a lot of courage shown in making Pennsylvania safer,
and we can never forget the service and the sacrifice.
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