Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki offered a blessing to police officers Monday during a special Mass at the Basilica of St. Josaphat on South 6th Street.
Listecki's words of praise and encouragement were heard by a church filled with officers from throughout Southeast Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel agreed. Back in January, while Schimel recognized National Law Enforcement appreciation day, he referenced his faith.
“On behalf of all of us at the (Wisconsin) Department of Justice, I am grateful to all of our law enforcement partners on this day, and every day, and I pray for their safe return home at the end of every shift,” Schimel said.
Back in Milwaukee on Monday, the Archbishop honored current law enforcement personnel, retirees, and their families.
Monday’s blessing follows what has been a challenging month for authorities. An officer was shot by a suspected armed robber May 5. That officer had been on the force for more than a decade and was pursuing a man who allegedly robbed an auto parts store on Milwaukee’s northwest side.
Only about ten days later, two Milwaukee County Sheriff’s deputies were thrown into a lane of trafficon I-43. The dash cam video that captured the incident has gone viral and made international headlines. A woman who had been pulled over for speeding threw her car into reverse and sped off, but not before injuring the two deputies.
Meanwhile in Madison, Wisconsin’s fallen law enforcement officers were honored May 20, at the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial on the grounds of the state capitol.
During the ceremony, Gov. Scott Walker expressed his gratitude to the brave men and women in Wisconsin who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and laid down a wreath during the 26th Annual Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony.
The memorial site outside Wisconsin's capitol now lists the names of 270 fallen Wisconsin law enforcement officers, including Trooper Trevor Casper, who was shot and killed in Fond du Lac on March 24, 2015, while confronting a murder and bank robbery suspect.
“We owe all Wisconsin law enforcement officers a debt of gratitude for protecting the citizens of our state from harm every day,” Gov. Walker said.
