in effect
This is a presidential proclamation issued May 12, 2025, by President Donald Trump formally designating May 15, 2025, as Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 11–17, 2025, as Police Week. It is an annual ceremonial action authorized by a 1962 joint resolution of Congress (Public Law 87-726) and codified at 36 U.S.C. 136–137, which directs the President to make this designation each year.
The proclamation officially sets May 15, 2025, as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the surrounding week (May 11–17) as Police Week for that calendar year. It directs all Americans to observe the week with appropriate ceremonies and activities. It calls on state and territorial governors, as well as officials in other U.S. jurisdictions, to order flags flown at half-staff on May 15. The document also references existing administration policy positions — including an executive order seeking a mandatory death penalty for killing a police officer and a request to Congress to pass a crime bill with enhanced officer protections — but those are pre-existing actions described in context, not new directives created by this proclamation.
State and territorial governors and officials of U.S. jurisdictions receive a specific call to action: ordering flags to half-staff on May 15, 2025. Law enforcement officers and the families of officers killed in the line of duty are the intended honorees of the memorial observances. The general public is called upon to participate in or acknowledge the week’s commemorative activities.