Nearly 19,300 names grace the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, which honors police killed in the line of duty. Survivors and colleagues of those officers are now converging in Washington for National Police Week. The week recognizes officers slain on the job and lets their spouses and children meet with others who have suffered similar losses.

“For a lot of these children, this is the first time they’ve ever sat face to face with someone who’s also had a loved one killed tragically, in the line of duty,” said Jennifer Thacker, the director of national outreach for the Concerns of Police Survivors, which is known as COPS and is one of the week’s organizers.