Dear Editor:

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15th as “Peace Officers Memorial Day,” and the week in which it falls as National Police Week. Since that time, law enforcement officers and others have taken this time to honor those men and women who have paid the ultimate price for fulfilling their commitment to protect and serve. National Police Week begins this year on Sunday, May 11.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC contains the names of officers who have been killed in the line of duty. Currently, there are more than 18,000 names on the Memorial, dating back to the first known police death in 1792.

Small town Alabama is not immune to the violence resulting in tragedy for police officers. Within the past six years, the 24th Judicial Circuit (Fayette, Lamar, and Pickens Counties) has experienced the tragic loss of law enforcement personnel to violence.

In 2002, Jimmy Hutto, a game officer with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, was killed in the line of duty while helping officers serve a search warrant in Fayette. In 2003, Arnold Strickland, James Crump, both police officers for the City of Fayette, and Ace Mealer, a 911 dispatcher, were also gunned down while doing their jobs in Fayette.

It is this week that we stop and remember those law enforcement officers who, like Officers Hutto, Strickland, and Crump, and Dispatcher Mealer, have laid down their lives so that others might live.

We are too often reminded, in a very tragic way, that the job of protecting and serving is still an extremely dangerous job. We ought never to forget the sacrifice of those who daily put themselves in harm ’s way so that the rest of us might live in safety.

This week, as we go to work, go to school, or go to recreational activities, may we take time to say “thank you” to the police officers we come in contact with. After all, it is only through their willingness to serve and to protect that we are able to enjoy these activities in peace.

J. Chris McCool,

District Attorney

24th Judicial Circuit

(Fayette, Lamar, Pickens Counties)

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This newspaper tries to report news fairly and accurately. When we fall short of that objective, we welcome complaints from our readers. Please direct your comments to Doug Sanders Jr., Editor and Publisher, at the Pickens County Herald, P.O. Box 390, Carrollton, AL 35447. You may call during regular business hours at 367-2217. We do not knowingly make misstatements of fact. If we find that we have, we will gladly make a correction in the next issue.

Publisher/Editor ... Doug Sanders, Jr.

Business Manager ........... Ann Gates

Sports Editor .......... Kevin Strickland

Staff Writer ........... Matthew Satcher

The Pickens County Herald (ISSN 0893-0767) is published weekly at

215 Reform Street, P.O. Box 390, Carrollton, AL 35447. Phone 205-367-2217. Entered as Periodicals at the Post Office at Carrollton, AL 35447. Annual subscription rate is $27.50 for one year or $ for six months for Pickens County residents; $30.00 per year or $ per six months for adjoining counties. Subscriptions for Pickens County senior citizens (Pickens County ONLY) 65 and over are $20 for one year or $ for six months. All others are $38.00 per year or $ for six months.

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