"It was very nice," Joyce Davis said of the ceremony. "It's great that they do this and remember them in this way."

Binns promised the Davis family and all other families of slain officers that the union and department always will be there for them.

"Whatever you need, it'll get done before the sun sets that day," he said.

Besides his wife, Davis was survived by a 5-year-old son, Chris. Today, Chris Davis doesn't remember much of his father, but does recall watching Flyers games and playing Whiffle ball with him. In one game played in the driveway of their home, Ernie Davis broke his leg.

As he grew up, young Chris was cared for by his mom and extended family.

"Family has always been there," he said.

Chris Davis, who has a wife, Jaimie, and a 2-1/2-year-old daughter, Jordyn, is grateful that his father was remembered in a special way.

"I hope we don't have too many more of them," he said of plaque dedication ceremonies.

Megan Eroh, the officer's niece, spoke on behalf of the Davis family. She was 8 when her uncle died.

Eroh recalled spending time with him on holidays, special occasions, vacations to Wildwood, at Sunday spaghetti dinners and watching Phillies and Eagles games. She recalled his smile and laugh and love for golfing and bowling.

"He will always be my personal hero," she said.

Detective Robert Lagera, now deceased, made an arrest the morning of the shooting. The suspect, Leslie Beasley, had a long criminal record.

Beasley committed a murder in Atlantic County, N.J., at age 16 as a member of the "Dogtown Gang" and served three and a half years of a 10-year sentence.

After his release, he fathered six children and was arrested nine more times, including multiple incidents of assaults on police officers.

A jury in the Davis case convicted Beasley of first-degree murder. The panel, which included a Roman Catholic nun, took less than an hour to sentence him to death.

After his arrest in the Davis killing, he was linked to the shooting death of a 26-year-old bicyclist, Keith Singleton.

A jury sentenced him to death for that crime, too.

Former Govs. Dick Thornburgh, Bob Casey and Tom Ridge have signed death warrants for Beasley, but courts have stayed his execution each time. He is the longest-serving inmate on Pennsylvania's death row.

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There will be eight more police plaques dedicated in 2009.