Welcome to

Five Florida law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in 2012, and today they were remembered at an annual ceremony at the state capital. “Anything can turn deadly in a blink of an eye,” said Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi. “And so sadly you had to find that out.”

Keynote speaker Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd lost one of his own deputies last month, after agreeing to speak at the ceremony. “I never imagined that one of my own deputies would lose his life in the line of duty just 10 days prior to this ceremony,” he said.

One-by-one, grieving family members pinned a rose to the area of Florida where their loved one died. “When our law enforcement officers go to work,” said Bondi. “Everyday they risk their lives for all of us.”

Even as the fallen officers were being remembered, Sheriff Judd had a message for criminals in Florida. “If you make one last bad choice by pointing a gun at any one of us, we will make one more good choice and shoot you graveyard dead,” he said.

Three Florida officers have already been killed in the line of duty in 2013.