Fallen police officers honored in annual memorial wall vigil

AUSTIN, Texas - Family and friends of fallen officers made their way to their seats surrounding the memorial wall for the Texas Peace Officers Memorial Ceremony and Vigil on Sunday afternoon. 

"Our primary goal is to make sure that the families know that their loved ones will not be forgotten," Gretchen Grigsby, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Director of Government Relations, said. "It is a tremendous honor to be a part of this ceremony, and we want to make sure that we are doing right by the loved ones who have lost an officer."

Law enforcement agencies from across the state of Texas came out to the Capitol to show their support during the two-day event. 

"We typically have about a thousand people. They are representatives from survivor groups, those that have been impacted by a line of duty death themselves, law enforcement officers from across that state, as well as the public", said Grigsby. 

38-year-old Jorge Pastore is the latest Austin police officer killed in the line of duty.

In November of last year, he was shot by a suspect while responding to a hostage situation.

His name is being added to the memorial wall. 

"Obviously, that was a very tragic situation and I know there will be a lot of APD representation here and those from around the Austin area," Grigsby said. "Unfortunately, a lot of our officers, they put themselves in harm’s way, and sometimes that means they pay the ultimate sacrifice, so we want to be a part of honoring them."

MORE STORIES

• Abducted 2-year-old boy from San Marcos found safe; suspect arrested
• AMBER Alert canceled for abducted 2-month-old boy out of San Antonio
• 1985 Jane Doe found in Smith County identified thanks to genetic genealogy

According to the organization Concerns of Police Survivors, or COPS, more than 140 officers die every year in the line of duty.

"Those numbers are about 140 officers lost every year nationwide. In Texas the typical number is about 15 to 20 line-of-duty deaths," Grigsby said "Of course we will have a few more names this year for those that have been lost due to COVID."

There were several keynote speakers at the annual event, including Gov. Greg Abbott.

"In 2017, the legislature put into place, as apart of government code chapter 2015, that statutory construction of this committee, and so we have been doing it since then, but the ceremony itself started a little bit less formally before then," Grigsby said. "This ceremony today is meant to honor those fallen officers whose names have been added to the wall for this year."