Apr 27, 2017 3 min read

First responders fulfill their job descriptions daily. Police officers, firefighters, medical personnel and others entrusted with public safety strive to, indeed, arrive first at the scene of an auto accident, a raging blaze or a natural disaster to save, rescue or treat people in peril or distress.

These public servants, many of whom are unpaid, realize they could be putting themselves at risk anytime, but perform their duties selflessly and efficiently. Sometimes, first responders die.

They deserve an unqualified salute, and may be getting one locally that is long overdue. Members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 22 have formed a committee to erect a memorial to all local first responders who have died in the line of duty. The November slaying of Canonsburg police officer Scott Bashioum, who was ambushed and shot along with partner James Saieva, who survived, was the impetus behind this initiative.

Building a local memorial to police who have lost their lives has been discussed many times over the years, but plans have never materialized. This time they should. And the monument, as proposed, should bear the names of all first responders who have died while doing their jobs.

It is too early in the planning stage for a location to have been selected and a targeted completion to have been pinpointed, according to an article this week by the Observer-Reporter’s Kathie Warco. Sgt. David Richards of the North Strabane Township police, immediate past president of FOP Lodge 22, told her that someone offered property off Pike Street in the Canonsburg area and that the 911 memorial at Washington Mall in South Strabane Township is a possibility. Current Lodge 22 president Michael Phillips said he is hoping for no later than a mid-May 2018 finish to the memorial, in time for Police Memorial Week.

Richards also told Warco the committee has invited Lodges 47 (state police) and 95 (Washington city) to join the endeavor, and has spoken with Mon Valley lodges and the Washington County Firemen’s Association. The Western Pennsylvania Police Benevolent Association may be involved as well.

Phillips told Warco, “It is a shame that it takes a death to bring this idea back to life. The national police memorial in Washington, D.C., is nice, but we need to have something local, because traveling there is too hard for some people.”

Finding funding is an integral part of this project. The first of what could be a number of fundraisers is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at SNPJ Lodge on Latimer Avenue in the village of Strabane, in North Strabane Township.

If finances are sufficient, the payoff will be a much-deserved monument to the men and women who gave their lives to help others.