The usually busy corridor outside of Milwaukee Police Department District One was silent early Friday morning.
The low roar of police motorcycles, law enforcement vehicles and Milwaukee Fire Department trucks filled the air.
One officer screamed, "Present arms," as a hearse carrying Officer Michael Michalski approached. Dozens of men and women in law enforcement raised their right hand to their heads, saluting one of their own as he passed by District One for the last time.
As Officer Michalski, went past the district, a memorial for him continued to grow.
"These people do something that nobody else wants to do," Jay Malosh of Milwaukee said. "They care about the community so much to be able to do that."
"Tears," Tim Nelson of Oak Creek said, describing when the procession passed him on the freeway. "I was out here a couple nights ago when they brought him to the Medical Examiner's Office. I'll be at his funeral also, like I was with Officer Irvine."
Nelson says he laid a wreath last month at Officer Irvine's memorial. He never thought he'd be doing the same thing so soon. Today, after he placed the wreath, he pushed 17 American flags into the ground around the wreath; each one representing Officer Michalski's years of service for MPD.
He has no connection to Officer Michalski, or even MPD for that matter, but after hearing of this loss he had to pay his respects.
"It takes a very special person to put the uniform on day in and day out knowing they may not come back to their families," Nelson said. "When the community comes together, events like this are amazing. I wish we did it every day. If we did it every day, we wouldn't have events like this. We need to start loving each other and not hurting each other."
