Today marks the 23rd Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement OfficersMemorial Service, an event that takes place at the Bureau of IndianPolice Academy in Artesia, New Mexico to honor the memories of thoseofficers who have given their lives in the line of duty.
This year Michael S. Black, BIA director, will deliver the keynoteaddress while being accompanied by BIA Office of Justice ServicesDeputy Bureau Director Darren Cruzan.
The day’s service is a special honor for those tribal, state, localand federal law enforcement officers that worked on federal Indianlands and in tribal communities who gave their lives in the line ofduty. The ceremony is also an occasion for formally announcing thenames of officers who will be added to the Indian Country LawEnforcement Officers Memorial monument at the academy. This year, twoindividuals will be added to the list of 101 already on it:
-- Alaska State Trooper and Village Public Safety Officer Thomas O.Madole who on March 19, 2013, succumbed to bullet wounds while handlingan altercation incident in the community of Manokotak, Alaska.
-- Sergeant Robert W. Baron of the Sandoval County, N.M., Sheriff’sOffice who on December 6, 2013, succumbed to injuries he sustained theprevious day after being struck by a vehicle on Interstate 25 near thePueblo of San Felipe.
According to a Department of the Interior press release, the “OJSholds the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service inconjunction with other law enforcement organizations and agencies,including the International Association of Chiefs of Police IndianCountry Law Enforcement Section, the National Sheriffs’ Association,and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal LawEnforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Artesia. The FLETC campus ishome to the memorial, service and academy.”
First Dedicated on May 7, 1992, the Indian Country Law EnforcementOfficers Memorial at the BIA Indian Police Academy then in Marana,Arizona was later moved to its present site and re-dedicated on May 6,1993.
Based on indigenous design concepts and reflecting a spiritualsignificance to many tribes, the memorial is comprised of three granitemarkers within a circular walkway lined with sage, and four plantersfilled with foliage in colors representing people of all nations. Eachplanter represents one of the four directions.
The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. (MDT) and can be live-streamed
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