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Over 180 police officers were killed in the line of duty over the past year—seven in Georgia.

Thursday, local law enforcement gathered at Veteran’s Park Amphitheatre to remember the fallen for the annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service.

Albany, Dougherty County, and Airport police as well as the Dougherty County Sheriff’s office honored nine officers killed in uniform.

“We all bleed the same color, doesn’t matter whether we’re wearing green, blue, red, brown, take your pick,” said Dougherty County Police Chief Don Cheek. “We do the same things so we know what each other faces.”

Cheek lost his partner, Randy Brown in 1979.

“31 years, it doesn’t seem like it. It’s as clear in my mind as it was that night.”

But Cheek has seen the brighter side – Officer Stewart Williamson now works for Cheek. Williamson’s father, Captain Thomas Williamson, was killed in a car accident in 1988.

“It’s been five years now that I’ve been in uniform doing this, probably about eight not in uniform,” Williamson said. “I enjoy doing this because I know that my father’s memory will never be lost.”

Williamson was only 3-years-old when his father and his father’s partner died. He says the tragedy didn’t stop him from becoming a cop.

“Everyone in my family does it. There’s no thrill like it. You don’t get any more enjoyment of helping people other than law enforcement.”

The most recent officer death is Corporal Dustin Lee who died in Iraq in 2007. Before that he was working as K-9 officer at the Marine Corps Logistics Base.