Sheriff's Office • 100 North Fifth Avenue West • Duluth, MN 55802 Phone: (218) 726-2340 • www.stlouiscountymn.gov
Ross Litman Sheriff
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: April 30, 2018
Media Contact: Father John Petrich
(218) 348-0247
Law enforcement memorial lunch is May 17
Area law enforcement officers and chaplains will gather to honor and remember colleagues who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty, during the 29th annual Law Enforcement Memorial Prayer Luncheon. The luncheon will be held Thursday, May 17, at noon in the Great Lakes Ballroom in the Holiday Center, Duluth. It's hosted by the St. Louis County Law Enforcement Chaplain's Association, in cooperation with the Sheriff's Office and the Duluth Police Department.
Keynote speaker this year will be Mark Clements. Clements has worked as a chaplain for 18 years, serving various city and county law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin, as well as the FBI. He is the past president of the International Conference of Police Chaplains.
In 2017, nationwide, 129 officers died while serving their communities, including one in Minnesota and two in Wisconsin. Another 43 officers have already died this year (through April 23), according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
"Working in law enforcement is stressful and difficult, and it's becoming more so as officers are expected to do more and solve the problems that no one else wants to deal with, even as public sentiment against their profession seems to be growing," said Father John Petrich of the St. Louis County Law Enforcement Chaplain's Association. "So it's important that we take this time to thank our officers, to remember those who've made the ultimate sacrifice, and to give these brave men and women a time to share fellowship with their colleagues."
