Kansas set to honor fallen law enforcement officers

In honor of National Police Week and National Peace Officers' Memorial Day, the State of Kansas will be having its annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony this week. National Police Week is held May 15-21 this year, and National Peace Officers' Memorial Day is held annually on May 15. The Kansas services will take place this year on May 6. The public is encouraged to attend the memorial events that take place in Kansas.

The 29th Annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 6 at the Law Enforcement Monument, located on the northeast quadrant of the Statehouse grounds in Topeka. The ceremony will begin at 12:00 p.m.

The Kansas Highway Patrol and multiple other Law Enforcement Agencies will be tying blue ribbons to agency-owned vehicles and encouraging civilian workers to outfit their vehicles with the ribbons during the special observance to honor these fallen officers, as well as their families. A limited supply of the official ribbons will be available at many Kansas law enforcement agencies, including your local Kansas Highway Patrol Troop headquarters. If the official ribbons are not available, any 18-inch strip of royal blue ribbon will show your support.

Three fallen Kansas law enforcement officers' names will be added to the monument this year:

• Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Officer Luke D. Nihart was killed in the early morning hours of June 26, 2010. He was working the annual Country Stampede at Tuttle Creek State Park, when the ATV he was operating crashed. He died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash. Nihart had served with the Department of Wildlife and Parks for 11 years.

• Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Sam Smith was killed on July 23, 2010. Smith was responding to a domestic disturbance call when he lost control of his patrol vehicle and struck a tree. Smith died from the crash. He had served with Franklin County for nine months.

• Santa Fe Railroad Special Officer G.W. Greenstreet (no photo available) was looking for thieves who had been stealing from rail cars in the train yard at Edgerton on the evening of June 17, 1912. During the search, he was struck by a train and killed.