Rep. Dennis M. O’Brien

Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

www.speakerobrien.com

Contact: Jeanne H. Schmedlen

Director of Special Projects and Chief of Protocol

(717) 705-1894

jschmedlen@speakerobrien.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 5, 2008

Speaker O'Brien Honors Police Officers Killed in the Line-of-Duty

HARRISBURG – Speaker of the House Dennis M. O’Brien today joined hundreds of law enforcement officers and citizens in saluting police from across the state who were killed in the line of duty.

“Today we gather to mourn and to honor the memory of the men and women of extraordinary bravery – those who paid the ultimate price to keep our communities safe and our families secure,” O’Brien said.

In a ceremony at the Capitol organized by the Fraternal Order of Police, Pennsylvania State Lodge, all 703 Pennsylvania officers who have died in the line of duty were honored, but particular attention was paid to those who died in 2007.

The fallen officers of 2007 are Officer Walter Barclay of the Philadelphia Police Department, who died on Aug. 19, 2007, as a result of injuries received in a 1966 shooting; Trooper Scott Ball of the Pennsylvania State Police, who was killed while serving with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan on Aug. 27, 2007; and Officer Charles Cassidy of the Philadelphia Police Department, who died on Nov. 1, 2007, a day after being shot when he interrupted a robbery.

The observance also remembered Officer Jorgen Holand of the Upper Chichester Township Police who died in 1998 as a result of injuries sustained while responding to a call in 1997.

O’Brien said today’s event became more poignant in light of the tragic killing of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski on Saturday in Philadelphia.

The memorial event drew hundreds of police officers from across Pennsylvania, elected leaders and family members of the officers who died last year.

 “We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be grateful,” O’Brien said. “There is a special nobility, a special grace, in those who are prepared to sacrifice their lives for others.”

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