"They are looking for a good working environment, reasonable pay and benefits, and respect," Ihler said. "Right now all those things aren't being met."
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Gone but not forgotten: Ceremonies honor Missouri officers who made the ultimate sacrifice
There are now 716 names that can be found along the walls of Missouri’s Law Enforcement Memorial outside the state Capitol in Jefferson City. Those names are sitting on the Wall of Honor to pay tribute to officers who gave their lives to protect and serve others.
Missouri Law Enforcement Memorial (Photo courtesy of Missouri Department of Public Safety’s Flickr page)
Eight names of officers who died in the line of duty in 2020 and seven others killed between 1907 and 1946 were added to the wall as part of annual ceremonies to remember Missouri’s fallen men and women in blue.
Six Missouri law-enforcement officers and two corrections officers who died in the line of duty in between in 2020 were honored on Saturday, May 1, during Missouri’s annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service for those who have paid the ultimate price for their service protecting their fellow Missourians.
Officers, their families and friends from across the state gathered as the service returned to the Missouri Law Enforcement Memorial on the grounds to the state Capitol, after being held virtually last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to the officers who died in 2020, the names of seven law-enforcement officers whose historical line-of-duty deaths recently confirmed also were added to the memorial’s “Wall of Honor.”
His bullet-resistant vest stopped one of them from tearing through his chest.
But it was the mental health help he got following the experience that saved his life.
“The first thing is realizing, ‘Hey, I’m not crazy, I’m not tripping,’ this is what I’ve learned, it’s part of the process,” Lowe said.
Ever since, Lowe has partnered with other St. Louis area first responders who have survived trauma to form a nonprofit that helps them, and others, begin the mental health part of the healing process.
They call themselves Project HURT, and they sprang into action the night a Bellefontaine Neighbors police officer struck and killed Moline Acres Police Sgt. Herschel Turner. Some of the group s members helped Moline Acres police officers, but Lowe said a Blue-on-Blue type of line-of-duty death presents additional mental health needs.