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HIGH POINT — A new monument honoring fallen police officers was unveiled at the High Point Police Department’s annual memorial Thursday morning.

More than 100 family, guests and uniformed police officers attended the ceremony.

Police Chief Jim Fealy recognized the police chiefs from neighboring communities, such as Kernersville Chief Neal Stockton and Greensboro Chief Tim Bellamy. “Police chiefs do not usually visit other police memorials because of scheduling,” Fealy said. Other police departments are holding their own activities this week in recognition of National Police Week.

Missing from the memorial is a 6-foot-tall bronze statue of a High Point police officer, which is being built by Neil Brodin Studios of Minnesota.

The statue, which will depict an officer in full High Point uniform, gear and badge, will stand between two monuments that read, “We should not mourn the officers who died ... we should thank God that such people lived.” The statue will stand on top of a monument that says, “Respect-Honor-Remember.”

The new monument joins a smaller memorial listing the names of the city’s fallen officers. It was unveiled a few years ago.

“Every single penny was donated by citizens,” Fealy said of the new monument.

“We should always be mindful of what that means,” he said to his officers. It represents the trust residents place in the police department, he said. “We should remember how special that is. That doesn’t exist everywhere. We need to cherish that.”

The guests and officers observed a moment of silence and honored the fallen with a 21-gun salute. Family members and officers placed roses on the memorial for High Point’s five fallen officers — Shelia D. Twyman, Dec. 23, 2001; Allen Jerome Morris, Sept. 16, 1928; Fred G. Claywell, June 18, 1925; Carey James Reaves, June 10, 1925; and James W. Witcher, Sept. 15, 1913.

Steishia Twyman, 28, daughter of Shelia Twyman, was 21 and a recent college graduate when her mom died in 2001. “Small things still remind me of her,” she said.

Twyman said she wasn’t aware of the new monument before the service. “This is great,” she said. “It just goes to show you, High Point takes care of its own.”

Contact E.A. Seagraves at 883-4422, Ext. 241, or elizabeth.seagraves@news-record.com