Santa Fe — As we commemorate the New Mexico Centennial, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is remodeling a memorial that commemorates fallen officers.

Several DPS staff members have designed a new memorial display to honor officers killed in the line of duty. The memorial will be unveiled prior to the annual Statewide Law Enforcement Centennial Memorial at 10 a.m., May 23, at the Law Enforcement Academy in Santa Fe.

The memorial wall will feature digital monitors that display the name, end of watch, agency and image of each fallen officer, said Secretary Gorden E. Eden, Jr. A trio of saluting silhouettes will stand guard at the wall, which are also featured in an outdoor rust colored corrugated steel memorial garden entitled, “Wall of Honor,” which was designed by artist Armando Alvarez in 1996.

New Mexico has 193 officers who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty, said Eden. Their names are permanently etched on a charcoal colored marble wall at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy in the Memorial Garden. The names and biographical sketch of each officer are featured on a New Mexico Law Enforcement Memorial web page unveiled in 2011 at: http://www.nmlememorial.org/

The remodel also included new paint for the corridors of the law enforcement academy, new signage, and the relocation of some artwork and class plaques that graced the academy corridors, in order to provide a more honorable and respectful environment, said Eden.

Additional enhancements are being made to the landscape and exterior memorial as part of this project to honor our fallen officers. The project will be unveiled to the families and friends of those honored prior to the beginning of the formal ceremony on May 23.

We would like to thank the many DPS employees who have provided assistance in making this project a success.

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