Five police officers were shot to death. Three were killed while helping stranded motorists. Two others died in crashes.

Last year's death toll of 10 tied the record for the number of South Carolina officers killed in the line of duty in a year. The last time 10 officers died on duty was in 1992, state records show.

The lives of those killed in 2002 were honored Wednesday during the annual South Carolina Police Memorial at the state Criminal Justice Academy on Broad River Road. About 500 relatives, friends, colleagues and law enforcement officials attended.

In addition to the 10 officers killed in the line of duty, another 82 local, state and federal officers who died of natural causes were honored.

Gov. Mark Sanford declared Wednesday South Carolina Law Enforcement Memorial Day.

Attendees at Wednesday's hourlong service quietly wiped tears from their eyes as the names of the deceased were slowly read, and later when "Taps" was played. Officers representing departments across the state wore black bands across their badges.

"Your loved one's life was given; it was not taken," Tom Patterson, the Rock Hill Police Department chaplain, told the attendees. "Your loved ones gave their lives for us."

Patterson described last year as a "tough and difficult year" for South Carolina's law enforcement community, which he said suffered the "stark reality of seemingly premature death in the line of duty."

Alisa Mosley, executive director of the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Association, presided over the memorial and said 2002 was the "deadliest year for South Carolina officers in recent history."

Last year's tally was more than the combined total of line-of-duty deaths for the previous three years, Mosley said afterward, citing statistics from the state Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame. In 2001, one officer died while on duty.

Before last year and 1992, the greatest number of on-duty deaths in a year was eight in 1970, Mosley said.

Last year's on-duty deaths occurred mainly in the Lowcountry and Pee Dee. Six of the deaths were in January or November.

"My comment to young troopers is, 'I've seen this too many times,'" S.C. Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Russell Roark said during the service. "We realize there's an inherent danger to being in law enforcement."