A large crowd gathered on the morning of Thursday, May 18, 2017 at the Civic Coliseum for the annual Knoxville-Knox County Peace Officers Memorial Service to honor the service and sacrifices of local law-enforcement officers.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed into law a designation of May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week including May 15 as National Police Week. Two decades later, the first National Peace Officers Memorial Day Service was held on May 15, 1982, in Washington, D.C. 

Locally, the annual service recognizes the dedication and professionalism of Knoxville police officers, and local law-enforcement officers who have passed in the last year are remembered. Their colleagues and family members place a red rose in their memory in the center of a memorial wreath. 

Thursday's service also remembered these former chiefs, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, officers, detectives, deputies, agents, troopers and K-9s who have recently passed. 

FBI:
Special Agent Charles W. Bone
Special Agent Robert Metts

Knox County Sheriff's Office:
Sergeant Peggy L. Branson
Corrections Officer John E. Duty III
Sergeant Donald E. Flenniken
Sergeant Patrick D. Lawson
Lieutenant Phillip E. Preston, Jr.
K9 Officer Duco
K9 Officer Fano
K9 Officer Ivan
K9 Officer Kinte

Knoxville Police Department:
Sergeant Lillard "Earle" Ailor, Jr.
Lieutenant James Donald "Donnie" Cameron
Officer Clarence David Collins
Deputy Chief Eugene "Gene" Howard Huskey, Sr.
Sergeant James "Jim" M. McCarter
Officer Curtis W. Price
Lieutenant William "Bill" Smith
K9 Officer Ammo

Tennessee Highway Patrol:
Trooper John Woods

University of Tennessee Medical Center Police:
Sergeant Barbara Ann Rouse


The event also honored those locally who gave the ultimate sacrifice of death during the line of duty.


Maryville Police Department:
Officer Kenny Moats

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation:
Special Agent De'Greaun ReShun "Dee" Frazier