Johnson County has lowered flags to half-staff on Wednesday, May 15 to honor Peace Officers Memorial Day, as directed by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly.

Peace Officers Memorial Day pays tribute to local, state and federal peace officers who have died or been disabled in the line of duty. It takes place each year on May 15, and the calendar week in which it falls is declared National Police Week.

In 1962, President Kennedy issued the first proclamation for Peace Officers Memorial Day and National Police Week. In 1994, President Clinton amended the proclamation, directing flags to be flown at half-staff for the first time.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office has lost three officers in the line of duty in the past 72 years.

• Master Deputy Brandon Collins was killed on Sept. 11, 2016 when his patrol car was rear-ended and caught fire during a traffic stop off U.S. 69 Highway near West 143rd Street. He was 44.
• Detective Gerald Foote was killed on April 3, 1971 in a two-car crash on I-35 near 119th Street while conducting a homicide investigation with an Olathe Police Department officer. He was 32.
• Sergeant Willard Carver was shot and killed on June 23, 1952 when he and another deputy attempted to arrest two men for auto theft on a gravel road west in rural Johnson County. He was 31.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., features the names of more than 21,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.