Detroit Police Honor Guard

The Detroit Police Honor Guard was founded in 1967 by a group of Traffic enforcement officers that wanted to pay tribute to fallen Officers. An Honor Guard was a new concept in the Police community at that time. The Police department didn’t have the budget to supply these officers with a special uniform. These officers modified their department issued uniforms to make them stand out and show a different level of attention to detail than a standard Officers uniform. This is the same uniform the Detroit Police Honor Guard currently uses to pay tribute to fallen Officers more than 50 years later.

The importance and impact that the Detroit Police Honor Guard has on the families of the fallen cannot be expressed through words on paper. The true value of the compassion and comfort that we provide the grieving is expressed in their tears. Tears of loss, tears of sadness and heartache, But also tears of pride. Pride which is bestowed upon the family after seeing the lengths that fellow officers will go through to honor their loved ones, even when they don’t know him/her. People have come to us and posed the question “why?….why do you do these things despite such self sacrifice?” The answer for all of us always comes immediately. “Because it is the LEAST we can do. If it were possible….we would do more. We owe our officers at least that much.”

We are a well trained and disciplined unit of officers whose only desire is to pay honor by guarding those who gave their life guarding others. The Detroit Police Department has repeatedly benefited from the family like support that we have received from other departments not only locally, but nationally in our times of need. We allow citizens and family and friends of fallen officers see that we are only human, that we care about all people in all walks of life We need to have the ability to reciprocate the support to our family in blue in some way, shape or form when it is support that is needed most. We must be able to carry on the tradition of being the most well respected honor guard in Michigan, One whom everyone turns to for help and advice.

We are primarily a self sufficient unit, operating on donations and fundraising support to do what we can for grieving families. A price cannot be placed on the honor and respect owed to a fallen officer. These things that we ask to be assisted with and permitted to do, are again, the LEAST we can do.