Last week was National Police Week and we were proud to stand alongside local law enforcement members, family members of fallen law enforcement officers, and community leaders at the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial Service in Oklahoma City.

Since the launch of Marsy’s Law for Oklahoma, we’ve received endorsements from a range of law enforcement officials and their membership organizations. We are grateful for the opportunity to add them to the growing list of advocates in the fight for equal rights for crime victims in our state. Canadian County Sheriff Chris West is one of our newest endorsers. I talked with him today after he escorted the family of fallen Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Garrison during the ceremony. Sheriff West made a point of asking me how Marsy’s Law was going. He said he was impressed at the growing support he’s seeing for our work among the law enforcement community.

I also talked for a few minutes with another supporter, Ray McNair, CEO of the Oklahoma Sheriff’s Association. He thanked me for coming and for remembering that every minute on the job, law enforcement members are working to serve crime victims. He said services like this are held to honor these men and women not as heroes because they died, but because of the lives they lived. It was the theme today, and I took that to heart.

As the police helicopters did a flyover and the Norman Police Department Honor Guard discharged the 21-gun volley fire, I was struck by the thought that their work and the services they provide are paramount to crime victims. They are often the first individuals that a victim encounters. To have their understanding and credibility behind our efforts makes such a difference to our cause. Our thoughts go out to all the families of fallen officers and we honor their memories this week, and always.