199 ROSES REMINDER OF LAPD'S FALLEN COPS SOUND OF TAPS ECHOES FOR ANNUAL CEREMONY.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer

Samantha Rios was just 5 when LAPD Officer Joe Rios was killed in the line of duty, so she has grown up to the sound of a bugler playing taps for her father.

Yet tears still form in Samantha's eyes when she hears the bugler play. She is moved that her father is still remembered after 13 years.

``It allows us to remember who we've lost, who we've found,'' said Rios, now 18. ``Without the recognition, it would be hard to find closure.''

Rios was among dozens who attended the Los Angeles Police Department's annual memorial service Thursday to honor officers who have made ``the ultimate sacrifice.''

With City Council members and top brass from other law enforcement agencies looking on, hundreds of rank-and-file officers placed black bands on their badges and saluted as 199 names were called out during the ceremony at the Police Academy in Elysian Park. A white rose for each officer named was placed inside a ceremonial fountain.

Since 1907, the department has remembered and honored its fallen officers. The annual ceremony also pays tribute to the officers' families and friends, as well as praising those who chose law enforcement as a profession.

``We have all become brothers and sisters through our common sorrow,'' Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell said to family members. ``These officers patrol our streets wearing the badge on their hearts.''

Similar ceremonies were held across the nation this month, with each agency honoring its fallen. On Wednesday, the Drug Enforcement Administration unveiled a Wall of Honor in Los Angeles that includes the names of 75 fallen agents who died in the past 33 years.

The most recent LAPD officer to die in the line of duty was Officer Ricardo Lizarraga, who was killed in 2004 during a scuffle with a parolee.

While the LAPD reports a decrease in crime, assaults toward those in law enforcement continue. This year, seven LAPD officers were shot at in five incidents. Two of the five cases remain unsolved.

Since May 2005, the California Highway Patrol has lost six officers in the line of duty.

And two deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department were killed this year, including Lancaster motorcycle Deputy Pierre Bain, a 15-year department veteran who died when a vehicle pulled out in front of his motorcycle at an east Lancaster intersection.

Assaults against members of law enforcement prompted a meeting in February between LAPD Chief William Bratton and Sheriff Lee Baca, who called the assaults a ``troubling trend.''

The memory of Los Angeles police Officer Robert Mata still seems vivid for his best friend, Ronnie Romero, who attended the ceremony. Mata died in 2000 in an automobile crash, leaving behind two daughters.

``It brings back all the same feelings,'' said Romero, an LAPD officer. ``He's the reason I came on the job.''

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 2 -- color) LAPD officers, above, place white roses, each signifying an officer who died in the line of duty, in a reflecting fountain at a memorial ceremony Thursday to honor their fallen comrades. Top, an officer gives a hug of condolence to Belinda Gajda, whose husband, Steven, was killed on her birthday, Jan. 1, in 1998.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer