This morning as the sun was rising, snow was falling on the memorial commemorating where four Lakewood police officers were killed. The community still remembers that day that drew the community together, five years ago today.

Heart in the Snow

An early snow is on the ground, and the wind-chill is in the mid-twenties, but business is unusually brisk at Blue Steele Coffee. People make a point of coming here to pay their respects on November 29, remembering that morning in 2009 when four officers paid the ultimate price.

Permanent memorials were dedicated one year later, here and at the Lakewood Police Department’s headquarters. The one outside the coffee shop was built on the corner where the original, makeshift memorial had grown.

Four Coffee Cups

This morning, several people have left flowers and other tokens of their respect at both memorials. Four Forza coffee cups, representing the four officers, were left at the memorial outside the coffee shop. This is meaningful on several levels, because it was a Forza shop at the time of the incident, and because four similar cups had been left at the original makeshift memorial.

The shop has since been renamed Blue Steele in honor of the officers. The letter B in the shop’s logo includes four stars, representing the four fallen officers.

Tonight, Blue Steele will host the fifth annual Concert for Remembrance, in conjunction with the fifth annual Fallen Officers Food Drive.