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Joplin Police Department holds 2nd Officer Memorial in four days

So far this year, there have been 17 Line of Duty Deaths in the US, according to the website,Officer Down Memorial. Two thousand six hundred police officers have died in the Line of Duty in the past decade.

Joplin Police Department, on Saturday, held the 2nd of two memorials remembering two JPD officers who were shot in the line of duty last March and died due to their injuries. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

Last Wednesday, 100’s of police officers and personnel, friends, and family attended the first anniversary of the death of Joplin Corporal Ben Cooper, which took place at the Public Safety Training Facility in Webb City, MO.

On Saturday morning, the department held a second memorial at the same location to remember and mark the day Officer Jake Reed succumbed to his injuries from being shot three days prior. The city of Joplin will also honor Reed and his sacrifice every March 9 as Jake Reed Day. JPD Police Chief Sloan Rowland read the city proclamation Saturday.

“Whereas, on March 8, 2022, Officer Jake Reed gave the ultimate sacrifice for this city through his service as Joplin police officer, and whereas it is fitting and proper, we express our sincerest gratitude for his dedicated service and courageous deeds of Officer Reed and recognize the ultimate sacrifice that he paid to protect our loved ones and the citizens of Joplin.”

Reed was an officer with Joplin PD for five years. He is survived by his wife. For 899 KRPS News, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro

Since 2017 Fred Fletcher-Fierro has driven up Highway 171 through thunderstorms, downpours, snow, and ice storms to host KRPS’s Morning Edition. He’s also a daily reporter for the station, covering city government, elections, public safety, arts, entertainment, culture, sports and more. Fred has also spearheaded and overseen a sea change in programming for KRPS from a legacy classical station to one that airs a balance of classical, news, jazz, and cultural programming that better reflects the diverse audience of the Four States. For over two months in the fall of 2022 he worked remotely with NPR staff to relaunch krps.org to an NPR style news and information website.
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