On a wall outside the State House in Augusta, 90 names of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty are carved in memorial. On Tuesday, the Maine Chiefs of Police Association held an annual ceremony there to honor the men and women in blue who gave their greatest sacrifice for the communities they serve.
This year two names joined the others — Richard Betters of the Portland Police Department who died in 2009 and Herbert Tarbox of the Falmouth Police Department who died in 1959.
“I don’t feel lonely when I come here. I feel like part of a greater group that we all have a feeling what the other family members have gone through. It’s always sad when you see a new name from somebody who’s actually made the ultimate sacrifice in the past year and seeing that family you can really empathize with them,” said Charles Black II, whose father, Maine State Trooper Charles Black, died in 1964.
The memorial was dedicated on May 25, 1991, and the annual ceremony of remembrance has now been recurring for over 30 years.
“This memorial service is a time for all of us—law enforcement and community members—to come together and honor the courage, sacrifice, and service of Maine’s fallen officers,” said Maine Chiefs of Police Association Executive Director Michael Tracy, adding: “We invite the public to join us in remembering the heroes behind the badges and supporting the families they left behind.”
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 99 peace officers died in the line of duty in Maine. As the addition of two fallen officers only this year from deaths decades ago indicate, reviews of the circumstance of death can lead to entries at a later date. Causes of death range from assaults to accidents to health events spurred in the course of providing aid to the public.
“Making names on a wall people and making them human beings because that’s what they were, amazing people who just happened to be cops,” Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuk said at Tuesday’s memorial event, where he was joined by other state officials.
