Peace Officers Memorial Day Observances
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Gov. Mark Dayton has ordered all flags at state and federal facilities in Minnesota to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset Friday in honor and remembrance of Peace Officers who have been killed or injured in the line of duty for Peace Officers Memorial Day.
272 Minnesota law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty. The first was recorded in 1874, and the most recent occurred last summer when Mendota Heights Police Officer Scott Patrick was shot to death during a traffic stop. His family will be in Washington D.C. to dedicate the addition of his name to the National Law Enforcement Memorial.
The Rochester observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day will take place at Christ’s United Methodist Church next to Soldiers Field Park. The public is invited to the ceremony, which begins at 10 AM.
The service will honor seven local law enforcement officers:
- Reserve Police Officer William H. Freytag, (Rochester Police Department) End of Watch: Monday March 13, 1961 Cause of Death: Struck by Vehicle
- Police Officer Floyd Joseph Haley, (Rochester Police Department) End of Watch: Sunday August 6, 1967 Cause of Death: Gunfire
- Police Officer Lloyd Feind, (Rochester Police Department) End of Watch: February 27th, 1976 Cause of Death: Heart Attack
- Deputy Sheriff Jack Dean Werner, (Olmsted County Sheriff’s Department) End of Watch: May 17, 1977 Cause of Death: Gunfire
- Police Officer Eugene Sutton, (Rochester Police Department) End of Watch: November 13, 1985 Cause of Death: Heart Attack
- Special Agent Gary Paul Friedli, (US Department of the Treasury, US Customs) End of Watch: Wednesday March 4, 1998 Cause of Death: Automobile Accident
- Corporal Travis R. Bruce, (United States Army, Military Police) End of Watch: March 23, 2005 Cause of Death: In line of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom
(information provided by Rochester Police Department)
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