The Wareham Police Department is honoring their brothers and sisters in blue who have been killed in the line of duty with 165  flags featuring a “thin blue line.”

The flags, which are black with a blue horizontal line, are said to symbolize law enforcement’s role as the barrier between an ordered society and chaos.

Sgt. Herbie Noble, who came up with the idea for the memorial display, said that he hopes that drivers passing the police station will think about the sacrifice of law enforcement officers.

“There is a lot of sacrifice in this field,” Noble said. “We go into this job knowing it. It happens. But over the past year we’ve had a couple [locally].”

Sgt. Michael Chesna of Weymouth was shot and killed with his own service weapon while on duty on July 15, 2018.

Sgt. Sean Gannon of Yarmouth was shot and killed while serving a warrant on April 12, 2018.

The flags honor the 163 officers who were killed in the line of duty last year. Two additional flags honor the Wareham officers who lost their lives on the job.

Officer Lester Chace was struck and killed by a vehicle while directing traffic at a construction site in 1932.

Officer Chris Argentinis died in 1999 after being struck by a Massachusetts State Police cruiser while running after a drug suspect across a road. He died two days after the accident from head injuries. The suspect was arrested and charged with cocaine possession and resisting arrest.

Noble said that he wanted to memorialize the 20th anniversary of Argentinis’ death.

On Friday morning, Wareham Police officers and their families gathered to place the flags in front of the station on Cranberry Highway.

The flags will stay up through next week, which is Police Week.