U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne visited Mobile Police Department headquarters to thank officers for their service during National Police Week, pledging his office’s support in ensuring local law enforcement has the resources and training needed to do their jobs safely.
Speaking to high-ranking police officials at the department’s headquarters, Byrne said the September 11 terrorist attacks served as a wake-up call about the role local first responders play on what he called the real front line against domestic threats. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Byrne said he is familiar with military efforts against terrorism abroad, but stressed that police officers, not soldiers, are typically the first to respond when violence strikes at home.
The visit came just days after two police officers in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, were fatally shot during a routine traffic stop, marking that city’s first police killings in more than three decades. Byrne referenced the tragedy directly, telling Mobile officers that while most people can count on returning home safely from work, law enforcement officers and their families live with the knowledge that a routine shift could turn deadly.
Assistant Mobile Police Chief Joseph Kennedy told those gathered that seven Mobile officers have died in the line of duty during his career with the department, and noted that 118 officers were killed nationwide in 2014 alone. Kennedy said incidents like the Hattiesburg shootings resonate deeply within the law enforcement community, which he described as a brotherhood that feels each loss personally.
National Police Week has been observed annually since the 1960s to honor officers killed or injured in the line of duty and to recognize the ongoing risks faced by law enforcement personnel. Mobile Police Department officials said the week gives them an opportunity to highlight both the dangers of the job and the community support that helps sustain officers and their families.
The department planned to hold its annual memorial service honoring fallen Mobile officers at the Public Safety Memorial Park on Airport Boulevard later that week, an event that has become a fixture of the department’s observance of National Police Week each spring.
Byrne, who represents Alabama’s 1st Congressional District covering much of the Mobile area, has frequently highlighted public safety funding and support for law enforcement as priorities during his time in Congress.