[UPDATE]  There is a plan in place, should the weather take a turn for the worse when tomorrow's Peace Officers Memorial is scheduled to start.

Bossier Sheriff's Lieutenant Bill Davis tells KEEL News says if it does rain, the memorial will take place in Riverview Hall in downtown Shreveport, across from the original site.

"We sure would love to love to have great weather, though, since it's a very moving event," Davis says.

[ORIGINAL STORY]  This is National Police Week, which is set aside for communities all across the U.S. to come together and remember law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Locally, we'll have our Peace Officer Memorial Ceremony at 11:30 Wednesday morning, next to the Barnwell Center in downtown Shreveport.  Caddo Sheriff's Lieutenant Don Gibbs tells KEEL News it's quite a solemn event.

"We have officers who come just to support officers who have gone before us, as well as we'll have someone there who will speak.  Normally it will be someone from one of the agencies, the sheriff or the U.S. Marshal," Gibbs says.  "The atmosphere is one of such that we're appreciative those individuals who laid down their lives to protect what we have, and our quality of life."

During the ceremony, each fallen officer's name is read, and a rose is handed out to his or her family members.  Lt. Gibbs says some of these names date back to the 1800s.  He tells us there haven't been any sheriff's deputies who have died in the line of duty in the last several years, but we all remember Shreveport Police Sgt. Tim Prunty.  He was shot and killed in October 2010.  "He was a super-nice person," Gibbs says.

Even though law enforcement personnel are thoroughly trained to handle any type of situation, they know that tragedy could strike any day they go to work.  "Officers' safety is paramount, and we hope that we would never have to have these [types of ceremonies]," Gibbs says.  "But we know that this goes with the territory of what we have to do."

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