The week of May 11 - 17, 2008 will be National Police Memorial Week and May 14 will be observed as Police Memorial Day in Troy according to information released by Chief Anthony Everage of the Troy Police department.

Troy Mayor Jimmy C. Lunsford signed a proclamation Monday May 5 proclaiming this week as Police Memorial Week and Wednesday (May 14) as Police Memorial Day in Troy. The proclamation honors current Troy Police Officers and remembers the Officers who "Paid the Ultimate Sacrifice" to protect and serve the citizens of Troy.

The annual Police Memorial Day ceremony will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday May 14 at the Troy Police Department on Elm Street. Mayor Lunsford will welcome those in attendance and Chief Everage will read the "ROLL CALL OF HONOR" of officers who were killed or died in the line of duty.

Five officers from the Troy Police Department have been killed or died in the line of duty. They are Officer Will G. Jackson - June 1905; Officer Hayden Youngblood - May 1962; Officer Cecil Sullivan - November 1967; Officer Billy Dease - January 1968 and Officer Steve Watkins - November 1981.

Other law enforcement officers with ties to Troy and Pike County are Alabama Conservation Officer Grady Russell Jackson - February 1984, Alabama State Trooper R.W. "Bob" Jones - November 1991, Troy University graduates Officer Gary Wayne Heath - Greenville Police Officer - June 1994 and Officer Willie H. Pryor - Montgomery Police Department - November 1995. Former Troy University Police Officer Michael Brandon Lassiter - Covington County Sheriff's Department - April 2004. Former Troy Police Chief John P. Lee died in Montevallo, Alabama in March 2008.

Everyone is invited to attend this ceremony to recognize these officers and pay tribute to them as well as officers across America for the job they do.