May 15 is Peace Officers Memorial Day

Unless you are a police officer, or related to one by blood or marriage, you may not know that we are in the middle of National Police Week. Wednesday, May 15 is the highlight of the week, Peace Officers Memorial Day.

An honor guard at the Chicago Police Memorial Wall.

Yes, we ran the above picture last year, too. So what? We also ran the one below, showing the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The police see the rest of us at our worst -- when we are the victim of a crime, when we are stopped for a traffic infraction, or when (heaven forfend) we are arrested for a serious crime. Because of this sad truth the relationship between the police and the citizenry can, at times, be somewhat... adversarial. But, for the most part, the police really are our friends. Make a point to remember that on Wednesday.

Let's see... can we tie anything else into Peace Officers Memorial Day? Well, MLB's Texas Rangers are named after the famed peace officers in that state, and one of their owners is Nolan Ryan -- and, on May 15, 1973, Nolan Ryan threw the first of his eventual seven no-hitters. Of course, he was pitching for California at the time....

Wednesday will also be National Chocolate Chip Day and Straw Hat Day. No, we couldn't figure out a way to tie those in, either.