Communities across the country will come together this week during National Police Week to honor and remember those law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as the family members, friends and fellow officers they left behind.

A memorial ceremony honoring local fallen law enforcement officers will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 13, behind the Barnwell Center on the Shreveport Riverfront. In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held at Riverview Theater. The public is invited to attend.

The local ceremony pays tribute annually to 38 officers and deputies from Caddo and Bossier parishes killed in the line of duty since 1894. Participating in the ceremony will be the Caddo and Bossier sheriff’s offices, Shreveport and Bossier City police departments, Louisiana State Police, and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 of each year as Peace Officers' Memorial Day in honor of the federal, state, and municipal officers who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty. The calendar week of May 15 is National Police Week in recognition of the service given by the men and women in law enforcement. The local memorial ceremony is held in conjunction with Police Week.

In tribute to American law enforcement officers and at the request of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Public Law 103-322 also designates May 15th National Peace Officers' Memorial Day, which is one of only two days each year during which government agencies, businesses and residents are to fly their U.S. flags at half staff.

This year, the names of 273 officers killed in the line of duty are being added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC. These 273 officers include 117 officers who were killed during 2014, plus 156 officers who died in previous years but whose stories of sacrifice had been lost to history until now.