National Police Week recognizes law enforcement

RALEIGH, N.C. — As North Carolina comes together in mourning, communities across the country will pay tribute to law enforcement officers during National Police Week, May 12-18.

Each year, hundreds of names of officers killed in the line of duty are engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC. The 36th Annual Candlelight Vigil will be held Monday at 8 p.m. on the National Mall

On April 29, four names were added to that list of fallen officers when three members of the U.S. Marshals Service fugitive squad and a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer came under fire at a home in Charlotte.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol Sgt. Marcus Bethea says it’s been a heartbreaking time for law enforcement in the state and across the country.

“It’s been a tough month. It’s been a tough year. And just looking at some of the statistics from earlier, 56 police officers have been killed in the line of duty so far in 2024 – 56. Almost half of those occurred in the month of April,” Bethea said. “So it’s been a very active year for law enforcement. A lot of grief, a lot of death, a lot of realities of what this job can sometimes bring.”

The officers killed in April were trying to serve an arrest warrant for 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes, who was wanted in Lincoln County on charges of possession of a firearm by a felon with two felony counts of fleeing to elude, according to the Lincoln sheriff County.

According to authorities, Hughes showed up and began shooting at them before he was shot in the front yard of the home.

In addition to the four killed, four other officers were injured.

Remembering the fallen

Thomas Weeks Jr. was a 13-year veteran of the U.S. Marshals Service who had served the Western District of North Carolina for the past 10 years. He leaves behind his widow and four children.

William “Alden” Elliott and Sam Poloche both worked for the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections for 14 years, first as a probation and parole officer and later as part of the special operations and intelligence unit assigned to the U.S. Marshal’s Carolina Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Elliot leaves behind his widow and one child.

Poloche leaves behind a widow and two children.

According to police, Officer Joshua Eyer had served with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in the North Tryon Division for six years and was a member of the 178th Recruit Class. He leaves behind his widow and his three-year-old son.

“It’s hurtful,” Bethea said. “As an agency, it hurts us to see these officers in Charlotte go through this.” Definitely hits home. And we’re definitely praying for them and thinking about them.”

The final funeral for the four officers will be Monday for Paloche in a private service at First Baptist Church in Charlotte.

The heartache comes at the start of a week celebrating the sacrifices police officers make to protect and serve their communities.

“We wish we didn’t have to do this,” Bethea said. “But it is another wake-up call.” It is an opportunity for us to understand the reality of what can happen in this industry, but also, and more importantly, to honor the lives and mission of those who came before us came and made this sacrifice.”