Dressed in a plaid kilt-and-sweater combination — pinned with a police badge with a strip of black tape over its center — Jack Brickner carried his bag pipes into the Crawford County Courthouse assembly room Monday.

He was there to play the emotional “Amazing Grace” and other music for Crawford County’s annual Police Memorial Day, organized by members of the Judge F. Joseph Thomas Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police.

Police memorial ceremonies are important for Brickner. He not only performs music, he has been involved in law enforcement for 30 years — starting in 1978 as a police officer at Conneaut Lake Park.

“This (ceremony) means a lot to somebody who has risked their life every day, and it is a show of support to the force. You never know how a death has affected the wife or husband of an officer who has died,” he said.

Frank Baranyai, president of the local FOP lodge, gave a history of the memorial service program, noting that President John F. Kennedy declared May 15 as Police Memorial Day in the United States in 1962. He declared it as a “time set aside from the daily routine (for people) to stop to pay homage to the fallen police officers killed during the past year.”

Members of FOP lodges of Crawford County, Meadville and other lodges in the county, as well as from Venango County, took part in the local ceremony.

“It would be nice one year to cancel this (event),” said Baranyai, noting that “would mean that we had no officers killed.”

There were 187 police officers killed in the line of duty across the United States in 2007. Although no officers from Pennsylvania died that year, Baranyai said one has already died in 2008. The biography of the officer killed in Philadelphia during a bank robbery, when one of the suspects shot him with an AK-47, was detailed for the audience by Sgt. Greg Nichols of the Conneaut Lake Regional Police Department.

“His last words to a fellow officer were, ‘Tell my wife I love her,’ ” Nichols told Monday’s gathering.

Crawford County District Attorney Francis Schultz was keynote speaker for the brief ceremony. “Police Memorial Day gives our nation and our community the chance to remember and pay tribute to all of the police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty,” he said.

“The police officers’ motto is to protect and serve. That motto is more than just a few words. It is a way of life. It is a promise made to the community that no matter what the cost, the police officer will do his or her duty.

“Unfortunately, every year too many police officers are killed while attempting to make our communities and our citizens safe. These fallen officers deserve our thanks and our respect. We are grateful for their service and their sacrifice,” Schultz continued.

“I can think of no better way to honor the fallen than to give a heartfelt thanks to our Crawford County law enforcement community for their service this past year. Through their efforts, they help make Crawford County a special place to live. So, on behalf of the citizens of Crawford County, I thank each and every one of you for your hard work and your willingness to wear the uniform of a police officer,” Schultz concluded.

Moving outdoors, the dozens of police officers, deputy sheriffs and other law enforcement personnel stood at attention as a rifle squad and bag piper Brickner saluted the fallen officers with a traditional rifle firing and music.

This was the first of many ceremonies Brickner will participate in this week. His band, the Pittsburgh Police Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band, will travel to Washington, D.C., today to play at several services, including a candlelight vigil on Wednesday and concluding Thursday where he will play on the White House steps with President Bush as honored guest.