FORT MYERS, Fla. - It's not just local law enforcement officers paying their respects to fallen Fort Myers Officer Andrew Widman today.

One-thousand officers strong from one end of the state to the other, from east to west come for the same reason:

"It's a fallen brother, a family member," Officer Billy Ellis, Del Ray Beach Police Department, says.

Each one pays their respect.

"We're all one in the same, regardless of color or badge or uniform," Corporal Gary Morgan, Collier County Sheriff's Office, says.

The death of a comrade serves as a sobering reminder to those who pledge to serve and protect.

"It's rough because it's one of those things that you know everyday you could leave your family, your home and never come back," Officer Ellis says.

"It is scary, but days like today reaffirm you and reassures you," Corporal Morgan says. "Hopefully it will, in a way, help other officers go home safe to their family and their kids."

"Even though their loved one is gone, we'll still be there to support them," Officer Glenn Garceau, Palm Bay Police Department, says.

"The officer will never be forgotten, and it's our job as Honor Guard to honor him and remember him and the family, as well and the fellow officers that worked with him and lost a brother," Corporal CJ Woronka, Palm Bay Police Department, says.