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Nearly 60 law enforcement officers who have died in Alaska were honored Friday at the annual Police Memorial Ceremony.
Officials say 59 men from federal, state and local policing agencies have died in the line of duty since 1897. Each of their names was read off in a "final call" followed by a ring of a bell. Military police delivered a rifle salute. Dignitaries on hand for the ceremony included Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Gov. Sean Parnell. The keynote speaker was Anchorage police officer Jason Allen, who was shot several times in a drive-by shooting in January. The shooting remains unsolved. Allen, back in uniform for the first time on Friday, told the gathering it felt strange to be there speaking because he nearly joined the list of the fallen a few months ago. "A miracle happened and I survived," he said. "But they who suffered and lost, they who stood in our place and fell, they who gave their last while working to protect and defend us, they did not go home to their loved ones. ... Their presence weighs heavily on me."