Hundreds of Birmingham police officers paid tribute this morning to the 51 men and women who have died in the line of duty in the city dating back to 1900.

At a ceremony outside of Birmingham City Hall, officers, firefighters, and city officials honored the sacrifice of slain officers as part of National Police Week. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as National Police Week. Bagpipes played Amazing Grace, there was the symbolic Riderless Horse and a wreath-laying. Police officials read the names of those Birmingham police officers killed in service over the past 116 years.

"We gather today to remember them, their sacrifice, and we will never forget,'' said Birmingham police Chief A.C. Roper. "When most people run away from danger, our officers run towards it. They are asked to confront it, battle it head on, to go into the darkness armed with a gun and a badge, but also with a belief that most people are good and that a safe city, a safe community, is worth fighting for an unfortunately, at times, worth dying for."

"It's so easy to criticize and throw rocks at the men and women in the arena of life battling in the darkness of the human heart, a darkness that will never go away regardless of our strategies, our purposes and our intent, '' the chief said. "But we are not dismayed. Instead, we rededicate ourselves to the service of our citizens and the fight for right."

June 17 will mark the 12-year anniversary of the last time a Birmingham police officer was killed in the line of duty. West Precinct Officers Carlos Owen, Robert Bennett and Harley Chisholm died in a hail of gunfire June 17, 2004, at an Ensley drug house. Officer Michael Collins, now a sergeant, was wounded, but survived the attack. Kerry Spencer fired the shots that killed Owen, Bennett and Chisholm. He, along with co-defendant Nathaniel Woods, were convicted and sentenced to death. They remain on Death Row at Alabama's Holman Prison.

Nine Birmingham police officers have been killed in the line of duty in the past 30 years.

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange was the keynote speaker at today's ceremony. "I'm simply here to say thank you to them, and I encourage all of our citizens, when they have a chance, to thank the officers,'' Strange said. "It's not just at the scene of a crime, they're out there every day helping people with directions, helping find lost children, helping people change tires. It seems like our society is getting even more violent, and they're in the communities to keep people safe."

Birmingham Mayor William Bell said he is grateful to the officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. "The sacrifices they made, along with the sacrifices of their families, remind us that the job that you do each and every day comes with danger, comes with peril, and we should thank you much more than we often have the chance to,'' Bell said. "As we honor those who have given their all, let us be reminded that God is with us whether we are at work, in our homes or at our places of worship. We should call upon God each and every day to give us the grace and wisdom to carry out our duties."

Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls said law enforcement officers are under tremendous pressure. "There's a nationwide push for the police to exhibit more humanity in their day to day interactions with the public, but at the same time, they're being asked to set aside basic human emotions with confronted with extraordinary circumstances,'' Falls said. "They're being asked to be rational when dealing with people acting irrationally, they're asked to suppress their emotions when dealing with people who are emotional. They're asked to be respectful when dealing with people who are being disrespectful."

"We're asking people to be perfect," Falls said. "People are not perfect and therefore we should be demanding excellence from our law enforcement and be willing to give the same in our interactions with them each day, recognizing the difficultly in their jobs and be thankful for their willingness to do so."

Here is the list of Birmingham Fallen Officers. More information on them can be found here:

1.J. Wafe Adams- EOW: 3/28/1900

2.George W. Kirkley- EOW: 3/28/1900

3.William P. Walton- EOW: 3/18/1902

4.James H. Mullin- EOW: 9/27/1903

5.James Whaley-EOW: 8/12/1904

6.Samuel H. Hamilton-EOW: 5/12/1907

7.Willis A. Smith-EOW: 3/10/1908

8.John W. little-EOW: 11/7/1908

9.George Clinton Eubank-EOW: 11/23/1909

10.Loner Denson Camp-EOW: 6/19/1910

11.W.C. Wallace-EOW: 11/8/1910

12.Abner C. McGhee-EOW: 12/1/1910

13.William Benjamin-EOW: 9/29/1913

14.Hugh Tulley-EOW: 10/13/1913

15.John Acquilla Moore-EOW: 12/5/1913

16.George A. Sims-EOW: 1/22/1918

17.John Dickerson Newby-EOW: 10/15/1919

18.Sam P. Dobyns-EOW: 9/19/1920

19.Walter C. Hollums-EOW: 8/18/1923

20.Virgil Ray Payne-EOW: 2/12/1927

21.Alexander A. Manley-EOW: 5/26/1927

22.Elsie Turner Lewis-EOW: 3/3/1928

23.Henry Francis Mills-EOW: 8/8/1930

24.Lee Edward Buckalew-EOW: 5/23/1931

25.William Ira Latham-EOW: 10/24/1932

26.Dumas Froy Phillips-EOW: 4/23/1934

27.Forest J. Harris-EOW: 2/8/1935

28.James M. Early-EOW: 4/15/1935

29.Homer Earnest Poore-EOW: 6/30/1936

30.James Tillman Moser- EOW: 1/31/1939

31.Newton Edward Wolff-EOW: 7/12/1941

32.Fred R. Brockman- EOW: 11/3/1953

33.Herbert C. Osborn- EOW: 7/24/1962

34.Azell L. Harris- EOW: 5/4/1969

35.Kenneth Lee Spencer-EOW: 7/13/1969

36.Henry L. Thompson-EOW: 10/16/1972

37.Felix Underwood-EOW: 10/7/1973

38.William Stanley-EOW: 8/9/1975

39.James Earl Rhodes-EOW: 3/11/1978

40.Albert Eugene Ballard-EOW: 11/29/1979

41.Edward K. Alley, Jr.-EOW: 12/25/1980

42.Robert D. Patterson-EOW:10/31/1982

43.Sharon K. Robinson-EOW: 4/7/1984

44.Marcus L. Reid-EOW: 4/7/1984

45.Frank H. Dunn-EOW: 10/14/1986

46.John Martin Huffman-EOW: 5/21/1992

47.Sandy Sanderson-EOW: 1/29/1998

48.Joseph Jerome Daniels-EOW: 11/18/2002

49.C. Robert Bennett-EOW: 6/17/2004

50.Harley Alfred Chisholm, III-EOW: 6/17/2004

51.Carlos Winston Owens-EOW: 6/17/2004