National Police Week 2012
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In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a Presidential Proclamation that set aside May 15 as National Peace Officers’ Memorial Day and the week of May 15 as National Police Week.

Invitation packets will be mailed to survivors, co-workers and agencies that suffered a line-of-duty death in 2011, the last week of January and will be sent with first-class postage.  All survivors, however, should receive their National Police Week 2012 packet by the first week of February.

 

NATIONAL POLICE WEEK 2012 INFORMATION PACKAGE:    (PRINTED VERSION)

NATIONAL POLICE WEEK 2012 REGISTRATION FORM:
(PRINTED VERSION) (ONLINE FORM)

Please read the information package before registering, it will answer many of the question you may have.

 

WHO NEEDS TO REGISTER FOR NATIONAL POLICE WEEK

Current Year Survivors:

Returning Survivors:

 

Co-Worker Survivors:

 

Survivor Travel Plans for National Police Week

Survivors should plan to arrive at Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, DC.  If you arrive at Dulles International Airport or Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the rates may be cheaper but you will be on your own to secure transportation to and from the airport to your assigned National Police Week hotel.  Survivors who arrive on either May 12 or May 13, at Reagan National Airport will be met by local officers who will escort them through the airport, assist with luggage, and get the survivors to buses that will transport them to their National Police Week hotel.

A May 12 arrival date is highly recommended for West Coast residents since flying on May 13 would make it difficult for them to be in town in time to attend the events held the evening of May 13.  Survivors who arrive on May 12 will have a down evening with no planned activities.  They may choose to take in the DC sights or simply relax from their trip.

For flight planning purposes, it is also recommended that survivors return home on May 17, the official departure day, so they can take in all the National Police Week activities.  If survivors do plan to leave immediately following the May 15 Memorial Service, you should be aware of the fact that the Memorial Service could last for 2 ½ hours, busing back to the hotel could take one hour, and security at the airport could take 1 ½ hours.  Flights out of DC before 6:30 p.m. would not be recommended on May 15.

May 13, information on National Police Week Check-In and Candlelight Vigil

National Police Week Check-In and Orientation:  On May 13, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. survivors will check-in and pick up information they will need for the coming days.  The Plaza Ballroom of the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel will be the check-in location and surviving children who will take part in the “C.O.P.S. Kids/Teens” activities during National Police Week will need to check-in at the Upper Foyer of the Hilton Alexandria Hotel.  Orientation sessions will be held every hour on the hour and it is highly recommended that first-year attendees attend one of these orientation sessions.

Shuttle bus service will run throughout the day from overflow hotels to the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel.

Past-year survivors will be denied on-site registration.  Only survivors of 2011 can register on site and it is strongly recommended that all survivors pre-register.

Law Enforcement United “Road to Hope” Reception

A “Road to Hope” reception will be held to present all 2011 surviving law enforcement families with their memorial flag flown during Law Enforcement United’s 3-day, 250-mile bicycle ride to benefit C.O.P.S.  The reception will be from 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.  Although the reception is scheduled for 1 ½ hours, survivors can stop by, receive their flag, meet with the officer who rode with the flag, and then leave to prepare for the Candlelight Vigil.

The Annual Candlelight Vigil sponsored by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund:  Busing from the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel, which is where the majority of current-year survivors will be housed, to the sight of the Annual Candlelight Vigil will begin at 5:00 p.m. and continue through to 7:00 p.m.  Busing from the overflow hotels, where returning survivors, chapter representatives, and extended family members will be housed will begin at 5:00 p.m.  The Vigil will begin at 8:00 p.m. and conclude at 9:00 p.m.  Following a brief intermission, the reading of the newly-engraved names will begin and should conclude shortly after 10:00 p.m.  Buses will be available to transport survivors back to their respective hotels.

May 14, the first day of the National Police Survivors’ Conference and C.O.P.S. Kids/Teens activities

May 14, will begin with an 8:00 a.m. continental breakfast.  The continental breakfast will be held in the Lower Foyer of the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel for the surviving families.

For the children/step-children and the minor-aged siblings of fallen officers:  At 8:15 a.m. on May 14, children/step-children of the fallen officers and minor-aged siblings of the fallen officers who have registered for C.O.P.S. Kids/Teens events will meet in the Magnolia Room of the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel.  Here they will be arranged into age-specific groups and then be transported to the FBI Academy where they will spend the day in group sessions and simply having fun.  Children/step-children and siblings returning to C.O.P.S. Kids/Teens for their 3rd year or more will have the opportunity to participate in a different returning survivor program.  They will be transported back to the Hilton Hotel by 5:00 p.m.

Day care will be provided for children/step-children and minor-aged siblings of fallen officers, infants through pre-school age children, at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on May 14.  The National Police Week registration packet includes an area where these children can be registered for their visit.  Pre-registration is mandatory.

There are no day care plans made for children who are NOT children/step-children of the fallen officers or minor-aged siblings of fallen officers.  Here is information to consider and options available for the parents of these children:

For the Surviving Adult Family Members:  The opening session of the National Police Survivors’ Conference for the adult survivors attending National Police Week 2012 will begin at 9:00 a.m. in the Plaza Ballroom of the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel.

Following a short break, short sessions informing survivors about the C.O.P.S. Hands-On Programs planned for the summer and fall months will be held at various locations throughout the hotel.  The National Police Week program book will cite exact locations.  Lunch will begin at 12:00 noon and will bring everyone back to the Plaza Ballroom at the Hilton.  The afternoon of May 14 will be spent in breakout sessions where surviving spouses will meet with other spouses, mothers with other mothers, fathers with other fathers, siblings with other siblings, adult children with other adult children, etc.  The day’s sessions will conclude at 4:00 p.m.

At 4:30 p.m., one member of each surviving family that will have a fallen officer honored at the May 15 National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service is asked to meet with the Fraternal Order of Police and its Auxiliary in the Plaza Ballroom for a brief meeting on how families will be assembled the following day for the Memorial Service.

For Memorial Service Escort Officers:  Beginning at 9:00 a.m., Memorial Service Escort Officers should plan to attend a short meeting with the Fraternal Order of Police and its Auxiliary.  At this meeting Memorial Service Escort Officers will learn of their duties and responsibilities at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service.

For Affected Co-Workers:  At 10:00 a.m. debriefing sessions will be held in various meeting rooms in the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel for co-workers affected by the death of a fallen officer.  The National Police Week program book will cite specific locations for these sessions in the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel.  These debriefing sessions will conclude around 12:30 p.m.  Officers are on their own for lunch.

May 15, National Peace Officers’ Memorial Day

Definitions survivors will need to understand for May 15:

Current-Year Survivors:  Any family member from a 2011 line-of-duty death and a few families whose officer has not been honored at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial on May 15. (These few families may have just recently had their Federal claim approved, making them eligible for honoring at the Memorial Service.)

Participating Family Members:  will include the primary survivor as well as children, parents and siblings of the fallen officer.  These members of the family will follow direction for their involvement as participating family members on May 15.

Non-Participating Family Members:  will include extended family members (aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, sibling spouses, in-laws, etc.), friends and co-workers of the officer being honored.  On May 15 these people will need to follow directions that will be printed for non-participating family members.

Memorial Service Escort Officers:  The Memorial Service Escort Officer is the one officer who has been sent to Washington, DC, as the representative from the agency of the fallen officer for the specific purpose of escorting the surviving family during the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on May 15.

The morning of May 15 may seem chaotic to some; but it is organized chaos!  Returning survivors and extended family members are to take the first buses from their respective hotels at 8:00 a.m. to the Memorial Service site, the West Front of the U.S. Capitol.  In the meantime, survivors of 2011 who will be participating in the flower placement at the Memorial Service, will gather at the Plaza Ballroom at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel and be assembled for the Roll Call of Heroes that will take place during the Memorial Service.  A light fare breakfast will be provided to these survivors as they board the buses.  The bus trip to the Capitol, once all the buses are loaded, should take about 20 minutes.

The Memorial Service will begin at 11:00 a.m. and could last as long as 2 ½ hours.  If you will be bringing babies or infirmed relatives, please plan for their issues during this time frame. 

May 16, second day of the National Police Survivors’ Conference and C.O.P.S. Kids/Teens activities

The morning of May 16 will begin with an 8:00 a.m. continental breakfast for survivors at the Hilton Alexandria Hotel.

For the Children/Stepchildren and the Minor-Aged Siblings of Fallen Officers:  At 8:15 a.m. on May 16, children/stepchildren and minor-aged siblings of fallen officers who have registered for C.O.P.S. Kids/Teens events will meet in the Magnolia Room of the Hilton Alexandria mark Center Hotel and wait to be transported to the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy.  They will be returned to the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center by 5:00 p.m.

Day care will be provided for through pre-school age children from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center Hotel for the surviving children/stepchildren and siblings of fallen officers.

For Surviving Family Members and Affected Co-Workers:  Breakout sessions for adult surviving family members and affected co-workers will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 11:45 a.m.  Lunch will be provided to survivors in the Plaza Ballroom beginning at 12:00 noon.  The National Police Survivors’ Conference will end at 2:30 p.m. and will give survivors a few short hours to unwind until the final event of National Police Week 2012, the Picnic on the Patio at the Hilton.

Picnic on the Patio
6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Concerns of Police Survivors hosts the Picnic on the Patio at the Hilton to close out National Police Week.  There will be activities to entertain everyone.  Dinner will be at 6:00 p.m. and music and dancing will follow to help you unwind from a difficult week.  Returning survivors must pay the returning survivors’ fee in order to attend Picnic on the Patio at the Hilton.

 

May 17, Official Departure Day

The official departure day is May 17.  C.O.P.S. will have presented each hotel’s concierge with departure times for survivors’ flights (if provided on the survivors’ registration forms) so the hotel can plan accordingly.  Survivors will take the hotel shuttle vans to Reagan National Airport for their departing flight.