    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 128, 113th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    PROCLAMATION 9123--MAY 9, 2014

    Proclamation 9123 of May 9, 2014

    Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week, 2014

    By the President of the United States of America

    A Proclamation

    Each year, America sets aside a week to salute the men and women who do
    the difficult, dangerous, and often thankless work of safeguarding our
    communities. Our Nation's peace officers embody the very idea of
    citizenship--that along with our rights come responsibilities, both to
    ourselves and to others. During Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police
    Week, we celebrate those who protect and serve us every minute of every
    day, and we honor the courageous officers who devoted themselves so
    fully to others that in the process they laid down their lives.
    As we mourn the fallen, let us also remember how they lived. With
    unflinching commitment, they defended our schools and businesses. They
    guarded prisons; patrolled borders; and kept us safe at home, on the
    road, and as we went about our lives. To their families, we owe an
    unpayable debt. And to the men and women who carry their mission
    forward, we owe our unyielding support.
    Our Nation has an obligation to ensure that as police officers face
    untold risks in the line of duty, we are doing whatever we can to
    protect them. This means providing all necessary resources so they can
    get the job done, hiring new officers where they are needed most, and
    investing in training to prepare those on the front lines for
    potentially deadly situations. It also means making reforms to curb
    senseless epidemics of violence that threaten law enforcement officers
    and haunt the neighborhoods they serve.
    Just as police officers never let down their guard, we must never let
    slide our gratitude. We should extend our thanks not only in times of
    tragedy, but for every tragedy averted--every accident avoided because a
    patrol officer took a drunk driver off the streets, every child made
    safer because a criminal was brought to justice, every life saved
    because police officers raced to the scene. In other words, we must show
    our gratitude every day.
    By a joint resolution approved October 1, 1962, as amended (76 Stat.
    676), and by Public Law 103-322, as amended (36 U.S.C. 136-137), the
    President has been authorized and requested to designate May 15 of each
    year as ``Peace Officers Memorial Day'' and the week in which it falls
    as ``Police Week.''

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    NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
    America, do hereby proclaim May 15, 2014, as Peace Officers Memorial Day
    and May 11 through May 17, 2014, as Police Week. I call upon all
    Americans to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and
    activities. I also call on Governors of the United States and the
    Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of the other territories subject
    to the jurisdiction of the United States, and appropriate officials of
    all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff
    on Peace Officers Memorial Day. I further encourage all Americans to
    display the flag at half-staff from their homes and businesses on that
    day.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of May,
    in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence
    of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.
    BARACK OBAMA