This year’s Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony was especially emotional for the Chattanooga Police Department.
“Over the past year, we had a horrible incident,” Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said during his opening remarks Thursday morning at the Law Enforcement Memorial on Market Street.
He was referring to Chattanooga police Officer Nicholas Galinger, 38, who died after being struck by a car late at night on Feb. 23. Police say he was inspecting an overflowing manhole cover on Hamill Road in Hixson after heavy rains. He was the Chattanooga Police Department’s 24th officer – including two K9s – to die in the line of duty.
Janet Hinds, 55, has been arrested and charged with DUI in connection with Galinger’s death.
The ceremony, which is observed as part of National Police Week, is a yearly tribute to law enforcement officers from several local agencies who have fallen in the line of duty, dating back to 1879. Current officers and some surviving family members line up to lay roses on the memorial in memory of the fallen.