AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Law enforcement officers from across the area came out Monday morning to Llano Cemetery to honor the brave men and women who put their lives on the line protecting the community.

The annual wreath-laying in the Field of Honor takes place after Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15th which pays tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty and during National Police Week.

Peace Officers Memorial Day was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

via National Enforcement Officers Memorial

Sgt. Thomas Higgins, with the Amarillo Police Department Honor Guard, said officers with APD, the Potter and Randall County Sheriff’s Offices, Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety as well as WTAMU and Amarillo College Police Department were on hand to honor officers Monday.

Sgt. Higgins said it’s a privilege for the APD Honor Guard to be at the memorial to not only remember those lost in their department but those lost in with other local agencies.

“We love the loss of additional officers due to COVID, we lost three here in Amarillo within in the last year, so this is a time we honor them and all officers that have been lost in the line of duty and this is also for their families as well to let them know we have not forgotten their services,” said Sgt. Higgins.

Llano Cemetery added that family survivors, co-workers, and friends were invited to the ceremony at the Llano East Ceremony-Field of Honor entrance.

Randall County Sheriff Christopher Forbis said just because this is a memorial for how officers died, he said they wanted it to also be a memorial on how those lost in the line of duty lived and celebrate how they lived and how served their community.

Sheriff Forbis said it’s paramount that those who were killed in the line of duty are never forgotten.

“They have left behind all their families and all their loved ones to serve other people, so we should never forget the sacrifice that they gave,” said Sheriff Forbis.

He added that law enforcement isn’t just a job, it’s a calling.