JEFFERSON CITY, May 7, 2005—Gov. Matt Blunt gave the opening remarks today at a service to honor Missouri’s fallen law enforcement officers. The service began at 10 a.m. at the Law Enforcement Memorial, located on the north side of the Capitol building. Today’s service marks the 18th annual ceremony the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police has hosted.

The ceremony was in honor of all law enforcement officers who have given their lives for the protection of Missourians, but especially honoring Missouri’s most recently deceased officers. Patrolman Tim Nielson of the Joplin Police Department was killed in an explosion on Sept. 13, 2004, and Police Officer Brad Schultz of the Riverview Police Department was killed in an automobile accident on Dec. 14, 2004. Both Nielson and Schultz were honored with nameplates on the memorial wall.

Unfortunately, as of April 2005, Missouri leads the nation in officers killed in the line of duty. Four officers’ names will already need to be added to the memorial at next year’s service including: Patrolman Scott Armstrong of the Bridgeton Police Department, Police Officer Molly Bowden of the Columbia Police Department, and Sergeant Carl Graham and Trooper Ralph Tatoian of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Mark James, Director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, offered condolences to the families of the fallen officers.

“We thank you for your ultimate sacrifice,” James said. “All Missouri citizens are protected thanks to the service of your loved ones. It is the least we can do to keep the memory of their spirit alive by visiting this memorial and sharing the stories of our fallen heroes.”

Rev. Charles Jackson of the Guiding Light Baptist Church gave an invocation and benediction. Police officers from around the state helped preside and present during the service representing Atchison County, St. Louis County, St. Charles, St. Louis, Jefferson City, Lee’s Summit, Kansas City and Columbia law enforcement agencies. The ceremony included a presentation of wreaths, the riderless horse ceremony, the roll call of heroes, and a twenty-one gun salute.

Including the four officer deaths this year, there are a total of 628 law enforcement officer deaths in Missouri’s history. The first recorded officer deaths occurred in St. Louis in 1836.

The Missouri Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation was started in 1985 as a non-profit fundraising organization to finance the construction of a memorial to fallen law enforcement officers. The memorial was dedicated on June 17, 1994, just three years after the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

For more information about the Missouri Law Enforcement Memorial, visit http://www.dps.state.mo.us/home/lememorial.htm, or call Terri Durdaller at (573) 291-3817.

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