[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 19 (Monday, May 12, 1997)]
[Pages 672-673]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7000--Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week, 1997

May 7, 1997

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Law enforcement officers are true heroes, quietly risking their 
lives every day to protect our public safety and private property. The 
routine, everyday nature of their courage makes it all the more 
extraordinary. Day and night, these brave men and women leave home, put 
on their badges, and report for duty, putting their lives on the line 
for the rest of us.
    Today, an estimated 587,000 men and women are sworn police officers, 
working to enforce our Nation's laws and maintain order in our society. 
As citizens we owe these officers respect and gratitude, and Police Week 
is a welcome time for us to join together and salute these officers for 
the selfless work they carry out so faithfully all year long.
    Sadly, during Police Week we also pause, on Peace Officers Memorial 
Day, to remember our fallen officers. Last year, 117 Federal, State, and 
local officers were killed in the line of duty. Although this number 
dropped to the lowest level in over 30 years--and the number of police 
officers killed by firearms alone dropped to 55 from 71 the previous 
year--these statistics, compiled by the National Law Enforcement 
Officers Memorial Fund, remain a cause for great concern. The loss of 
any police officer is a tragedy, and as a Nation, we mourn and remember 
these men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their 
lives. While we can never repay the debt we owe to these fallen officers 
and their families, we can--and must--honor their memory by carrying on 
their crusade to make America a better and safer place.
    By a joint resolution approved October 1, 1962 (76 Stat. 676), the 
Congress has author

[[Page 673]]

ized and requested the President to designate May 15 of each year as 
``Peace Officers Memorial Day'' and the week in which it falls as 
``Police Week,'' and, by Public Law 103-322 (36 U.S.C. 175), has 
directed that the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial 
Day.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim May 15, 1997, as Peace Officers 
Memorial Day and May 11 through May 17, 1997, as Police Week. I call 
upon the people of the United States to observe these occasions with 
appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities. I also request the 
Governors of the United States and of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
as well as the appropriate officials of all units of government, to 
direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial 
Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United 
States and all areas under its jurisdiction and control. I also invite 
all Americans to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that 
day.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this Seventh day of 
May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-first.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:47 a.m., May 9, 1997]

Note This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on May 8, and it was published in the Federal Register on May 12.