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Police Week is on. There are all sorts of events commemorating Police Week, including the Law Enforcement United riders who ride from Florida to D.C. and the D.C. Generals Police Week Jamboree, but no event is more emotional than the annual candle vigil.

The candle vigil honors the service and sacrifice of law enforcement professionals who died in the line of duty. This year was the 24th annual candle vigil, which honored 362 fallen law enforcement officers, 163 who were killed in 2011. These officers’ names will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, bringing a total of 19,660 names engraved on the memorial.

Some of the officials speaking at the ceremony were Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner David Aguilar, U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.

“We come to pay our respects to these officers and honor their service and selfless sacrifice. We remember the lives they led and the examples they set in their agencies and departments, and their communities,” said Secretary Napolitano. “And we recommit ourselves to the cause they served, to uphold the rule of law and the pursuit of justice.”

(You can read her whole speech here).

But the candle vigil isn’t about government officials making moving speeches. It’s a time for officers to gather together and honor those brothers and sisters they have lost. The candle vigil is an event that Detective Brian Elliott with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office has attended every year since becoming a police officer in 1997. And it’s something he would never miss.

“It’s a time for everyone to get together to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” he told me. “It’s a time for law enforcement to come together and be all on the same level and remember what we’re doing and why.”

Police Week is a like bringing a family together, says Det. Elliot, a family that can actually understand what you’re going through. “It is a brotherhood and it’s about being there for one another. If you’re not there for each other at end of the day, then who is?”

So far in 2012, police fatalities have fallen sharply, reported PoliceOne. Forty officers have perished in the line of duty, a 40% drop compared to 2011.

While the candle vigil will always be a moving experience for law enforcement officers, hopefully next year there won’t be so many names added to the memorial wall.