King to speak at law enforcement memorial

By Beverly Harvey

Published: May 10, 2008

Alabama Attorney General Troy King will be the guest speaker at a service to remember area law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty and to honor the men and women currently serving their communities.

“He was here last year and requested to come back,” Opelika police Chief Tommy Mangham said, adding, “He really supports law
enforcement.”

An Officers Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the city municipal courtroom at Opelika Police Department.

The service is one of many that will be held across the nation during National Police Week, from May 11 to 17.

The public is invited to attend the Opelika memorial service, Mangham said.

Officers and officials from area law enforcement agencies, including Auburn Police Division, Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Alabama State Troopers have been invited and are expected to attend the service, Mangham said.

Family members of law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty are invited to attend the memorial service, which will include the loved ones of Opelika police officers Moitt Brenton Truitt, killed in June 1970, and Roger Motley, killed in October 1993.

The first law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty in Lee County was Sheriff William Samuel “Buck” Jones, who was killed in June 1932, noted current Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones, who plans to attend the Officers Memorial Service.

Last year, 153 officers nationwide were killed in the line of duty, with the majority of those in the Southeast, Mangham said.

Mangham said the Officers Memorial Service in Opelika serves as a reminder to the public that officers Motley and Truitt “made the ultimate sacrifice for our community” and to “never forget the sacrifices made by the men and women in uniform” every day.

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