More than 50 men and women killed in the line of duty as Birmingham police officers were remembered in Railroad Park Friday morning for making the ultimate sacrifice.

Police Chief Scott Thurmond, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Assistant Chief La’Quaylin Parhm Mack and Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr honored the 51 slain officers who have died in Birmingham since 1900.

“There’s a tremendous amount of respect my team and I have for what you do every day, the sacrifices you make, the time away from your family,’’ Woodfin told the officers gathered at the ceremony. “I believe it is extremely unfortunate that over the course of time, this department as well as other police departments across our nation, have lost officers – men and women in the line of duty, protecting and serving, making the ultimate sacrifice.”

“I believe it does not matter if it’s been one day, one month, one year, multiple years,’’ Woodfin said. “The collective grief that exists among those fallen officers’ families is extremely important to remember.”

“Even in the midst of what we’re seeing across the country where we’ve seen an increase of active shooters in public spaces,’’ the mayor said, “one of the things that is very consistent is officers running straight into the fire and not even questioning or second guessing.”

Friday’s ceremony was held as part of National Police Week. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day. Bagpipes played and there was the symbolic wreath-laying.

Birmingham police Officer Truman Fitzgerald read the names of those Birmingham officers killed in service over the past 123 years.

Across the U.S., there have been 42 officers killed in the line of duty this year, including one in Alabama. Huntsville police Officer Garrett Crumby, 36, was killed and Officer Albert Morin, 34, was seriously injured on March 28.

In all of 2022, 246 officers were slain across the country, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.

The last Birmingham police officer killed in the line of duty was Sgt. Wytasha Carter, who was killed Jan. 13, 2019, as he and another officer attempted to arrest two men who were breaking into vehicles at a bar in 900 block of Fifth Avenue North.

Thurmond said the 51 Birmingham officers killed died doing what they did best – serving and protecting.

“Each of these officers are heroes who went above and beyond, and they sacrificed their own lives protecting those they served,’’ Thurmond said. “If each of these officers would have known their fate before arriving at work that day, they would have most likely come to work that day because being a police officer was their calling.”

“It takes a great deal of courage to become a police officer. There is no other profession where you have to put on a bullet proof vest and a gun belt to go to work,’’ the chief said. “There is no other profession where people run towards the sounds of gunfire to help those in need. There’s no other profession where people go the places where no one else is willing to go.”

“Each and every time an officer leaves home,’’ Thurmond said, “there’s no guarantee they will return home safely to their loved ones.”

Thurmond said when he was a young detective, he had a discussion with his partner about winning the lottery and what they would do if they won.

“Toward the end of that discussion, I reminded him that we would never win the lottery because we were chosen to be police officers and serve our community selflessly each and every day,’’ he said. “And if we won the lottery, we would no longer be police officers.”

Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr said, “There’s a saying that you can’t live a fulfilled day without doing something for someone who can never repay you. Each and every day, when you put that uniform on, you’re doing something for a community that can never repay you.”

Carr said all police officers are heroes.

“When we think about who are heroes? The people who are standing there in uniform. The people who everyday show up and do what I call real leadership,’’ he said. “It’s about making things right and every time you show up, you make things right for people who are at their worst moment.”

Here is the list of Birmingham Fallen Officers:

1. J. Wafe Adams- EOW: 3/28/1900

2. George W. Kirkley- EOW: 3/28/1900

3.William P. Walton- EOW: 3/18/1902

4.James H. Mullin- EOW: 9/27/1903

5. Samuel H. Hamilton-EOW: 5/12/1907

6. Willis A. Smith-EOW: 3/10/1908

7. John W. little-EOW: 11/7/1908

8. George Clinton Eubank-EOW: 11/23/1909

9. Loner Denson Camp-EOW: 6/19/1910

10. W.C. Wallace-EOW: 11/8/1910

11. William Benjamin-EOW: 9/29/1913

12. Hugh Tulley-EOW: 10/13/1913

13. John Acquilla Moore-EOW: 12/5/1913

14. George A. Sims-EOW: 1/22/1918

15. John Dickerson Newby-EOW: 10/15/1919

16. Sam P. Dobyns-EOW: 9/19/1920

17. Walter C. Hollums-EOW: 8/18/1923

18. Virgil Ray Payne-EOW: 2/12/1927

19. .Alexander A. Manley-EOW: 5/26/1927

20. Elsie Turner Lewis-EOW: 3/3/1928

21. Henry Francis Mills-EOW: 8/8/1930

22. Lee Edward Buckalew-EOW: 5/23/1931

23. William Ira Latham-EOW: 10/24/1932

24. Dumas Froy Phillips-EOW: 4/23/1934

25. Forest J. Harris-EOW: 2/8/1935

26. James M. Early-EOW: 4/15/1935

27. Homer Earnest Poore-EOW: 6/30/1936

28. James Tillman Moser- EOW: 1/31/1939

29. Newton Edward Wolff-EOW: 7/12/1941

30. Fred R. Brockman- EOW: 11/3/1953

31. Herbert C. Osborn- EOW: 7/24/1962

32. Azell L. Harris- EOW: 5/4/1969

33. Kenneth Lee Spencer-EOW: 7/13/1969

34. Henry L. Thompson-EOW: 10/16/1972

35. Felix Underwood-EOW: 10/7/1973

36. William Stanley-EOW: 8/9/1975

37. James Earl Rhodes-EOW: 3/11/1978

38. Albert Eugene Ballard-EOW: 11/29/1979

39. Edward K. Alley, Jr.-EOW: 12/25/1980

40. Robert D. Patterson-EOW:10/31/1982

41. Sharon K. Robinson-EOW: 4/7/1984

42. Marcus L. Reid-EOW: 4/7/1984

43. Frank H. Dunn-EOW: 10/14/1986

44. John Martin Huffman-EOW: 5/21/1992

45. Sandy Sanderson-EOW: 1/29/1998

46. Joseph Jerome Daniels-EOW: 11/18/2002

47. C. Robert Bennett-EOW: 6/17/2004

48. Harley Alfred Chisholm, III-EOW: 6/17/2004

49. Carlos Winston Owens-EOW: 6/17/2004

50. Sgt. Wytasha Carter – EOW 1/13/2019

51. Randall Versie Smith – EOW 12/28/2020