WHEREAS:  Arkansas’ heroic police officers put their lives on the line every single day to protect their fellow citizens and maintain law and order in our state; and
 
WHEREAS:  Law enforcement officers have come under increasing attack in recent years, both physically – from criminals – and politically – from the radical left; and
 
WHEREAS:  Common sense Arkansans know that our police are the thin blue line that separates our safe communities from chaos and lawlessness and that police are, and will always be, critical to the safety of our state; and
 
WHEREAS:  In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation declaring the week of May 15^th National Police Week, and since then, tens of thousands of police officers and their families, including Arkansans, travel to Washington, D.C. every year to celebrate law enforcement and pay tribute to their fallen brothers and sisters; and
 
WHEREAS:  In 2023, on Peace Officers Memorial Day, Monday, May 15, we remember the officers who have perished in the line of duty over the last year: Joshua Caudell, Michael Springer, Paul Newell, Jeremiah Story, William Shibley, and Donald Scoby. These men made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us all safe; and
 
WHEREAS:  Arkansas and this Administration will always Back the Blue and fight for a Safer, Stronger Arkansas.
 
NOW, THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, governor of the State of Arkansas, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of the State of Arkansas, do hereby proclaim May 14th through 20th, 2023 as
 

“NATIONAL POLICE WEEK”

 
and remind individuals of the importance of celebrating our police officers and their service, and honoring fallen law enforcement heroes.
 
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed this 16th day of May, in the year of our Lord 2023.