National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

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National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. at Judiciary Square, honors the more than 18,200 U.S. law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.

The sides of the memorial's walkways are inscribed with the names of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.

The memorial was established by an act of Congress in 1984, and dedicated on October 15, 1991. Designed by architect Davis Buckley, the memorial features a reflecting pool which is surrounded by walkways on a park. Along the walkways are walls that are inscribed with names of all U.S. law enforcement officers ? federal, state, and local ? who have died in the line of duty. One entrance of the Judiciary Square metro station is on the memorial site. A visitors center and store is nearby at 400 7th Street NW.

While the memorial sits on federal land, the monument was constructed and is maintained with private funds, not taxpayer dollars. Public Law 104-329 (October 20, 1996) created a memorial maintenance fund, managed by the United States Secretary of the Interior and funded by the sale of commemorative coins and donations.

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Candlelight Vigil

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15 as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week. On May 13 of each year, during National Police Week, an estimated 20,000 people attend a candlelight vigil at the memorial. It is during this ceremony that the names of all fallen law enforcement officers from the previous year are formally dedicated on the memorial. In 2008, at the 20th annual candlelight vigil, the names of 358 law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty were dedicated, including 181 who died in 2007 and 177 who died in previous years but had been lost to history. At the current rate at which names are being added, the current memorial walls are expected to be filled by 2050.

In 2000, Congress approved legislation authorizing the construction of a National Law Enforcement Museum (PL 106-492) to commemorate the service of America's law enforcement officers. The bill, signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 9, 2000, authorized the planning for the museum and the adjacent research library. The museum will be a mostly underground facility and will be located in the 400 block of E Street NW, directly across from the memorial. As with the memorial, the architect for the museum is Davis Buckley Architects and Planner. When it opens in 2011, the museum will provide an estimated 600,000 visitors a year with a comprehensive and compelling look at law enforcement in the United States.

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (detail)

Plans for the museum's exhibitions include four permanent galleries and one changing exhibitions gallery designed by Christopher Chadbourne & Associates of Boston. Privately funded, the National Law Enforcement Museum has launched an $80 million capital campaign.

The memorial and museum are both projects of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. The Memorial Fund collects and analyzes information about officer fatalities and publishes mid-year and end-of-year reports on officer fatalities. As officer fatalities on roadways have increased in recent years, the NLEOMF launched the "Drive Safely" campaign to decrease law enforcement fatalities on the road. The NLEOMF website lists statistics related to traffic-related deaths and links to officer testimonials.