This week, members of the Peabody Police Department participated in ceremonies for National Police Week in Washington, D.C.
Members of the department took part in a series of events that provided an opportunity for police officers from across the country to gather and honor fallen officers and their families.
Retired Peabody Police Officer Nancy Hart’s great-grandfather, Daniel McLean, a Beverly Police officer, was one of 282 officers honored this year and added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington. There are approximately 24,000 names engraved on the memorial.
The Peabody Police Honor Guard and other officers also participated in the Annual Candlelight Vigil, which took place on the National Mall, honoring officers who lost their lives in 2023.
Police Chief Thomas Griffin, who attended the vigil, said that members of the Honor Guard formed a cordon, providing a walkway for families of fallen officers from their bus to their seats.
Griffin said that there were around 30,000 to 40,000 people in the vigil’s audience from all over the world.
“It was a very moving ceremony,” Griffin said. “It’s a good way to show support for the families that have lost an officer in the line of duty.”
The Peabody Police Honor Guard also participated in a wreath-laying ceremony, where every four to five minutes, hundreds of members of honor guards from different departments rotated in and out to stand watch over the wreaths for a total of 12 hours.
