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We are grateful for the efforts of Angel Families Unite -- both to organize the annual National Day of Remembrance Ceremony in Brandon Park recently and the group's efforts throughout the year to support grieving families as they cope with the loss of family members to homicide.
"Angel Families Unite is a family," Bridget Irwin told the remembrance ceremony. "It is a place where we can come together, remember the people who were taken from us and be surrounded by people who understand the things that are often impossible to explain to everyone else."
We cannot imagine the depth of pain these families experience and we appreciate the work Angel Families Unite does to bring people who can relate and can understand together in a community based on mutual support.
The ceremony is a solemn occasion to remember precious lives lost and we thank Angel Families Unite for keeping these families in our thoughts, just as we thank the police and prosecutors for their valiant efforts at identifying the criminals responsible and holding them accountable.
We hope the experiences and memories these men and women share with our communities can be a catalyst. As we have editorialized before, our police -- and our communities as a whole -- need cooperation from witnesses so that police can remove violent criminals from our streets.
Too many cases languish unsolved because people with critical information are reluctant to assist investigations -- allowing the most brutal and violent in our communities to continue hurting families.
We believe, as we reflect on the lessons of the National Day of Remembrance, that this is unacceptable. We hope more people in our communities can recognize how unacceptable this is.