The Alexandria Police Department will hold a wreath-laying ceremony on Wednesday (May 7) to pay tribute to officers who have died while serving their community.
The event, part of the city’s Police Week observance, starts at 1 p.m. at the Alexandria Police Fallen Officers Memorial outside the department’s headquarters (3600 Wheeler Ave.).
During the ceremony, Mayor Alyia Gaskins will officially declare Police Week in Alexandria. The program includes a color guard presentation by the APD Honor Guard and bagpipe music.
Family members of the fallen officers will place red roses on the memorial. A bell will toll for each of the 18 officers who have died in the line of duty since the department was established in 1870.
The eighteen fallen officers memorialized are Constable Elijah Chenault, Watchman Gerrard Arnold, Officer Julian Arnold, Officer George Crump, Officer Walker Campbell, Sgt. Elton Hummer, Sgt. Charles McClary, Pvt. Whitfield Lipscombe, Pvt. August Perault Pierce, Cpl. Clarence McClary, Pvt. Robert Harris, Pvt. Bobby Padgett, Deputy Inspector James Baber, Pvt. Eugene Yoakum, Detective Conrad Lee Birney, Cpl. Charles William Hill, Officer Andrew Chelchowski, and Sgt. Morton Ford.
The Fallen Officers Memorial was unveiled in 2015.
