El Dorado Police Department celebrates National Police Week

EL DORADO — National Police Week kicks off today, and the El Dorado Police Department is marking the occasion with a visit from the state’s top law enforcement officer.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge will be the keynote speaker for a memorial ceremony that is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Thursday on the lawn of the El Dorado Conference Center, 311 S. West Ave.

It is a solemn event that the EPD hosts annually to honor law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

The ceremony is one of thousands of local events that are held across the country and a series of events, including a candlelight vigil, that draws thousands of law enforcement officers to the nation’s capital each year.

In 1962, Pres. John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which the date falls as Police Week.

The National Police Officers Memorial Service started out in 1982 as a gathering of approximately 120 survivors and supporters of law enforcement officers in Senate Park in Washington, D.C.

White said EPD officers want to do their part in honoring their fallen brethren ad the sacrifices they have made.

In 2016, 135 officers in the U.S. lost their lives in the line of duty, and so far this year, 47 officers have died while in service, White said.

He spoke about the local ceremony the same day a Yell County sheriff’s deputy was gunned down while responding to a call about domestic disturbance at a residence near Dardanelle.

According to published reports, Lt. Kevin C. Mainhart was en route to the residence when he spotted a vehicle that was believed to have been linked to the incident.

Mainhart conducted a traffic stop and suspect James C. Bowden opened fire, killing the sheriff’s deputy.

Bowden returned to the residence where officers had received the initial call and engaged in a standoff with police.

He reportedly released a female hostage before surrendering hours later.

Police said the bodies of two females, the 61-yearold mother and 17-yearold daughter of Bowden’s girlfriend, were outside the home.

Bowden faces capital murder charges in connection to the three deaths.

Rutledge issued a statement in response to the killing of Mainhart, saying, “Today, the state of Arkansas mourns the loss of Yell County Sheriff’s Deputy Lt. Kevin Mainhart. As an officer of the law, Lt. Mainhart began his day with one mission: to protect and serve the people of his community.”

“As Arkansas’s chief law enforcement officer, I extend my thoughts and prayers to Lt. Mainhart’s family, friends and brothers and sisters in law enforcement across our state, as well as the others who have been injured, brutally attacked and killed in today’s tragic incident in Chickalah,” Rutledge continued.

White pointed to such actions by Rutledge as one of the reasons the EPD invited her to deliver the keynote address on Thursday.

“I’ve heard her speak a couple of times. As the state’s highest ranking law enforcement officer, she’s a supporter of law enforcement officers, and she recognizes the sacrifices officers may have to make,” White said.

“Her platform is what we want to get across to the citizens, as well. It’s a dangerous job, and it’s important to remember those who have lost their lives in the line of duty — and to medical issues,” he said, referring to the recent death of Arkansas State Trooper Jeff D. Hust to illness.

The EPD has lost one officer in the line of duty.

Patrolman Jimmy Yocum was shot and killed in 1937 as he and other officers attempted to arrest two robbery suspects.

The two suspects had robbed a pharmacy that was at the intersection of South Washington and Hillsboro at the time and were fleeing town when they were spotted by another El Dorado officer.

The officer followed the vehicle until it turned off Magnolia Highway and onto a county road.

The officer summoned other officers and Union County sheriff’s deputies to the scene.

They located the getaway vehicle and its two occupants a short time later.

When officers attempted to remove the suspects from the vehicle, the passenger exited and opened fire, striking Yocum in the chest.

The shooter was wounded by return fire from officers, and both suspects were taken into custody.

The shooter was sentenced to death for Yocum’s murder and was executed in state prison on September 3, 1937.

The second suspect was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to five years in prison.

Yocum had served with the EPD for four years.

White said invitations to the memorial ceremony in El Dorado have been sent to law enforcement agencies in surrounding areas.

He noted that the EPD has a designated group of officers who represent the EPD when such tragedies strike other law enforcement agencies around the country.

The police chief and other local officers traveled to Dallas and Baton Rouge last year when officers were shot and killed during heightened tensions and protests of police shootings.

The local memorial ceremony will include full police honors, a 21-gun salute, the playing of taps and a bagpipe player, White said.

The public is invited to attend.