Today is Police Officer Memorial Day. Marion County has lost three law enforcement officers in the line of duty. Pella Police Chief Michael Marcinkowski says this is an opportunity for citizens to reflect on the sacrifices that police officers make. Knoxville Police Chief Dan Losada says he hopes people appreciate these sacrifices. Deputy Harold Gates with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department lost his life in the line of duty in when shot in Pella in 1967. Officer John E. Van Haaften with the Pella Police Department was killed in the line of duty in when shot in an undercover operation in Knoxville in 1980. In 2008 Virgil Behrens with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was killed in a vehicle accident on the way to training in Des Moines.