Candlelight Vigil Honors Officers Who Gave Lives

Police officers from across the country gathered in downtown Washington last night for a candlelight vigil honoring 133 officers killed in the line of duty last year, the centerpiece event of National Police Week.

Officials said the number of law enforcement officers killed in 2008 was the lowest in the 21-year history of the vigil and the lowest in the United States since 1960.

But last night, as wreaths were laid and names were read -- including those of several officers from the Washington area -- those at the vigil said the loss was not any less.

The deceased officers "are forever bound together by an unbreakable bond of valor," said Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who spoke to a crowd of several thousand. "They served, and they sacrificed, for a purpose far greater than themselves. Though we may grieve, we must emphatically reject despair."

The ceremony, held at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Judiciary Square, also honored 254 officers who perished in previous years but whose cases were only recently discovered by researchers. All 387 names have now been carved into the memorial's two long curves of marble.

Among the local officers honored were:

-- Mickey C. Lippy, 34, a Maryland state trooper and paramedic who was killed when his helicopter crashed in bad weather in Prince George's County the night of Sept. 27. The helicopter's pilot -- a retired trooper -- was also killed, along with a volunteer medic and a patient on board.

-- Richard M. Bremer, 39, an officer with the Frederick police who died when his cruiser crashed into trees while he pursued a suspect in October.

-- Frank J. Stecco, 42, a Fairfax County police lieutenant who drowned in Pohick Bay, an inlet of the Potomac River, in October. Stecco had volunteered to help the department's helicopter unit in a training exercise, playing the role of a victim whom the helicopter crew would rescue from the water.

-- Todd Bahr, 40, an officer with the Fredericksburg police, who was fatally shot in June by a gunman who was involved in a domestic dispute.

-- Richard S. Findley, 39, a corporal with the Prince George's County police, who was struck and killed by a car driven by a suspected auto thief in June.

At the ceremony, Prince George's Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton said his department is still trying to help Findley's family and co-workers deal with the loss.

"At any time, at any second, it could be your last call," Hylton said.