Fallen officers honored in Grand Island

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GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - Law enforcement agencies from around the state joined forces at the Law Enforcement Memorial in Fonner Park on Friday morning.

Sadly a new name was added to the wall, it was Kevin Kennedy Jr. who died in 2020 in the line of duty as a result of COVID-19.

The ceremony, which falls in National Police Week, also honored the 148 names who came before him.

This is an annual event meant to honor the names of the people on the wall, every year there is a host agency this year Kearney police hosted the memorial ceremony.

Kearney Police Chief Bryan Waugh gave a short speech about why events like this and National Police Week are important, but he said it’s crucial to remember that the pandemic is still a threat to law enforcement everywhere.

“COVID-19 was the number one reason for police officers killed in the line of duty this past year,” Chief Waugh said. “So it’s important to remember that officers are continually making sacrifices even during a pandemic and they’re going to work and they’re doing their job professionally within the communities across the entire state.”

The Executive Director of the Nebraska Crime Commission was also in attendance and he said Kennedy’s death speaks to his and all other officers’ commitment to the profession.

“Just the sense of duty that officers have that they’re will serve at all costs in all conditions at all times of day and you know they do this every day,” Don Arp Jr. said. “365 days a year they are facing from disease to a violent offender to helping protect a victim to getting somebody resources to helping someone on a traffic accident. Everything they do has an aspect of danger to it but they do it every day.”

He gave a speech memorializing Kennedy Jr. and spoke to the sacrifices law enforcement officials make every day.