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Harford County Sheriff's Office Holds Memorial Remembering Fallen Deputies

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Ceremony replaced the normal routines at the Harford County Sheriff's Office Joppa Precinct Thursday.

Last year's murder of two Harford County Sheriff's Deputies moved the department to hold its first memorial service for all its deputies killed in the line of duty.

A lot changed for the community last year when a gunman opened fire in a local Panera restaurant, killing Senior Deputy Patrick Dailey and Deputy First Class Mark Logsdon.

A wreath will be taken to the National Law Enforcement memorial in D.C. in their honor.

And in its first memorial ceremony, the Sheriff's Office also remembered five other deputies who died between 1893 and 2016.

"A husband, a wife, a mother, a father, a brother, a son, a friend," said Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler. "They are our friends and they will forever be our heroes."

Harford County was one of the stops of another remembrance for fallen officers, the annual Police Unity Tour to D.C.

The widow of Deputy Logsdon previously told WJZ why she rode in that tour.

"I've learned so much over the last year about sacrifices so many officers make, it's a way for me to heal," she said. "It's a way for me to give back. It's what I felt the need to do."

A wall at the department holds the names of the seven lost officers, and while there's space for more, "I hope and pray we are never forced with adding another name," Gahler said.

The Harford County ceremony comes as the nation prepares to remember all law enforcement officers who died while doing their jobs.

Ceremonies in honor of police week will be held this weekend at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in D.C.

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