Long Beach police and firefighters honored their fallen colleagues Tuesday morning during an annual memorial ceremony.
Police fired off a 21-gun salute and the fire department rang a final alarm bell for the 29 officers and 13 firefighters who have died in the line of duty in Long Beach’s history.
“May the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice take comfort in knowing that their loss was in furtherance of the most noble of causes, in the protection and service of others,” Police Chief Robert Luna said to a small crowd gathered by the Long Beach Shoreline Marina for the event.
• MORE PHOTOS: At the memorial for police officers, firefighters
In a short speech, Mayor Robert Garcia called for support of Long Beach’s police and firefighters.
“These are difficult times for our police and firefighter departments,” he’s said. “There’s a heightened level of both scrutiny and oftentimes criticism of these men and women and the work that they do, and it’s more important than ever today and beyond that we continue to support their incredible work because they do put their lives on the line every single day as we are remembering today and every year that we celebrate this memorial.”
Long Beach, according to Garcia, is “100 percent” behind its uniformed personnel.
“They have our complete support,” he said. “We believe that they are our community heroes, because they are.”
