Jan 8, 2015 3 min read

Law Enforcement Appreciation Day sprang up so quickly, the Washington County Commissioners never mentioned it Wednesday at their first agenda-setting session of the year.

But by Thursday morning, notice of the observance Friday was hurriedly added to the agenda at the behest of Commissioner Harlan Shober of Chartiers Township, who asked his colleague on the board, Commission Chairman Larry Maggi, a retired state police officer and former county sheriff, to read a proclamation “in light of recent negativity directed toward law enforcement nationally” that cited statistics on officers’ deaths and the number of assaults on them.

Chartiers Township police Chief James Horvath circulated a news release on the observance from FBI National Academy Associates Inc., of Stafford, Va., which includes a disclaimer that the private, nonprofit organization is not part of the FBI or acting on its behalf. It is acting in conjunction with the group Concerns of Police Survivors, established in 1984.

The last officer slain in Washington County was John David Dryer, 46, who was serving on the East Washington force Dec. 18, 2011, when he and his shift partner and best friend, Bob Caldwell, were shot following a traffic stop near the junction of interstates 70 and 79. Caldwell survived, but Dryer died early the next morning. The interchange was since named as a memorial to him.

Just last month, New York City police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot to death by Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley, reportedly in revenge of the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

“We aren’t taking sides on issues,” Shober said.

Sheriff’s Department Capt. Anthony Interval accepted the proclamation on behalf of law enforcement officers in Washington County. Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan noted her husband, Robert, is also a retired state police officer.

Friday’s appreciation day, which calls for recognition of police on social media, the wearing of blue clothing and displaying a blue light in support of law enforcement, among other activities, falls earlier in the year than another recognition enacted decades ago.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which it occurs as National Police Week, according to the website of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

“On average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 58 hours,” the website states. “Since the first known line-of-duty death in 1791, more than 20,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have made the ultimate sacrifice.”