HARRIMAN, Tenn. — Dozens of people gathered Monday night in Harriman at the David Webb Riverfront Park next to the Roane County Law Enforcement Memorial to honor fallen officers.
Members of the Roane County Sheriff's Office and Harriman Police lit candles and spoke about their memories of the fallen officers inscribed on the memorial.
The list of fallen Roane County officers dates back as early as 1890, but the memory of Jesse Matthew Rittenhouse is still fresh in the minds of Roane County law enforcement.
Rittenhouse died in 2004 after hydroplaning on a rainy September night.
The 25-year-old Harriman Police officer's patrol car flipped off the highway and killed him instantly.
Harriman Chief of Police, Baron Tapp is still heartbroken by the tragedy almost 19 years later.
"Every day when you put a badge on you just pray that you are coming home," Tapp said. "It was just tough—a sad time to see such a young upcoming good officer lose his life that early."
Rittenhouse, who went by Matt, was an aspiring narcotics officer, according to Roane County Chief Deputy Tim Phillips.
"Last week would have been his 43rd birthday," Phillips said. "He was killed in the line of duty and there is not a day that goes by where there isn't something that reminds me of Matt."
472 officers were killed in the line of duty in 2021.
National Police Week 2022 is dedicated to honoring the sacrifice of those officers, and people like Rittenhouse who are gone, but not forgotten.
Several businesses in Historic Downtown Harriman showed support throughout the week by lighting their storefronts blue overnight.
19 fallen Tennessee officers were also honored at the beginning of the week in Nashville.