PRESS RELEASE:
The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will honor its 119 officers killed in the line of duty throughout the department’s history with a Memorial Service beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 19, in front of Police Headquarters on Locust Street, between 11th and 12th streets.
The service will include an honor guard, a 21-gun salute from the steps of City Hall, the KCPD Color Guard, bagpipers, a flyover by the police helicopter, and a riderless horse representing fallen officers. Dispatcher L.C. Clark will read the names of all KCPD officers killed in the line of duty – the first in 1881 and the last in 2001. There will be 119 flags on display in front of Headquarters representing each one of these officers. For 119 hours preceding the service, dispatchers read one officer’s name per hour over the police radio system. The last officer’s name, Craig Schultz, will be read immediately before the ceremony begins Thursday.
Locust will be closed between 11th and 12th streets from about 7 a.m. to noon for the ceremony. In the event of rain, the ceremony will take place inside the basement of police headquarters, which can be accessed from 12th Street. The public is invited to attend.
