photo by: Derek Redd

Members of the Wheeling Police Department Honor Guard stand at attention as “Taps” is played during Wednesday’s Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony at WesBanco Arena.

WHEELING – On the average, every 57 hours a law enforcement agent dies in the line of duty somewhere in America, according to information from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

The Wheeling Police Department Wednesday night hosted its ninth annual Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony at WesBanco Arena. Among those present were current law enforcement personnel, their supporters, and family members and friends of officers making the ultimate sacrifice.

Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said it is important that the sacrifices of law enforcement continued to be honored and supported.

“If professional policing did not exist, chaos would truly reign in our communities,” he told those present. “This is why policing is important, and it will never go away. This is why ceremonies like this are important.

“Law enforcement officers support us everyday. But every 57 hours, an officer makes the ultimate sacrifice. We need to never forget those sacrifices.”

And death is not a deterrent for those with a calling to be police officers, he continued.

“Whether people like it or not, we’re going to keep doing it, even if it costs us our lives,” Schwertfeger said.

The Wheeling Police Department was founded in 1806, and is among the oldest in West Virginia.

Since then, nine Wheeling Police officers have died in the line of duty. They are John P. Brady (1868), Joseph Glenn (1888), Salvia C. “Lafe” Bowen (1902), Henry Carl Seamon (1917), Herman Henry Bartels (1922), Ray Mevin Lazear (1925), Charles Ulrich “Bud” Brunhaus (1926), James Robert Wolfe (1931), and James Reiter Bailey (1971).

photo by: Derek Redd

Cmdr. Ricky Manning of the Allegheny County, Pa., Sheriff’s Office sings during Wednesday’s Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony at WesBanco Arena.

Keynote speaker for the police officer’s memorial in Wheeling was Chad Napier, state coordinator for the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). Napier previously was a drug enforcement officer with the Charleston Police Department.

He said criminal activity has become more noticeable in cities where law enforcement agencies have been defunded.

“I wish you could take funds from law enforcement, give them to social service and all the different programs, and truly make a difference,” he said. “I wish we could all get along – that there would be less violence – but that’s not going to happen.

“You have to have law enforcement to deal with the issues relating to our communities.”

Napier said he has two sons – one who is a current member of the Charleston Police Department, and one who has interest in federal law enforcement.

He said he often gets asked why he permitted them to choose law enforcement as a vocation.

“If we don’t raise good kids… if we don’t encourage them when they have that passion … we are going to be hurting in this country,” Napier said. “We’re already hurting, but it could be worse.”

The Officer Down Memorial Page states more peace officers died in 2021 than ever, largely because of COVID.

There were 619 law enforcement deaths during the year, with 440 attributed to COVID. The statistics show 62 died from gunfire, 24 from automobile crashes, 22 from heart attacks, 17 from vehicular assault, 14 from being struck by a vehicle, 12 from 9-11 illnesses, six from assault, four from being stabbed, three from drowning, three from duty- related illness, three from motorcycle crashes, three during a vehicular pursuit, two during a natural disaster, two from inadvertent gunfire, one from falling, and one during a training incident.

Also participating in Wednesday’s police memorial event in Wheeling was Commander Ricky Manning of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office. Manning played the bagpipes, and also sang and played guitar during the ceremony.

The Wheeling Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony coincides with National Peace Officer Memorial Day and National Police Week.