Law officers across the state are taking time out this week during "National Peace Officers Memorial Week" to remember those who have died in the line of duty. Black Hawk County’s held its annual memorial service today outside the sheriff’s department headquarters in Waterloo.

Former county attorney David Correll (CORE’ell) was the keynote speaker. Correll says all of the officers who died were not given the opportunity to say good-bye to their family and friends that others often get. Correll prosecuted the case against James "T-Bone" Taylor, the man convicted of killing Waterloo policemen Wayne Rice and Michael Hoing in July of 1981.

Correll knew the two officers and reflected on their shooting deaths. "Those of you who didn’t know them, you lost the opportunity to know the trues and finest sense of professionalism that can be exhibited," Correll says. He says on the night of their deaths, they displayed the courage, decency and restraint that would do every law enforcement agency proud.

Taylor was captured after a week-long manhunt, but the search cost the county another officer. Just two days after the deaths of Rice and Hoing, sheriff’s deputy William Mulligan died in a traffic accident while responding to a possible sighting of Taylor.

Correll says those three deaths in 1981 prove how dangerous law enforcement can be. Correll says, "This is not the kind of profession where there are snow days, where there are days where you don’t go to work." He says the officers knew the risks inherent in doing the job, and performed it with great honor. Correll says the 11 officers killed in Black Hawk County all devoted their lives to serving the public.