BIA Law Enforcement to hold 12th Annual Memorial Service for Fallen Police Officers

(Washington, D.C.) -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES) will hold its 12th Annual Memorial Service on Thursday May 1, 2003, to commemorate the sacrifice made by law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty while serving on Indian lands. The Memorial Service will start at 10:30 A.M. on the BIA Indian Police Academy grounds in Artesia, New Mexico.

“It’s a sad day when we add new names to the BIA Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial,” Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Aurene Martin said. “But we pay tribute to those individuals and their families by remembering the sacrifices they made.”

At this year’s Memorial Service, Terry Virden, Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs will provide the keynote address. Robert “Bob” Ecoffey, Deputy Director, Office of Law Enforcement Services will also address the assembly. Three names of fallen officers will be added to the granite stones joining eighty-one other law enforcement officers, whom have lost their lives in the line of duty since 1852. The names of Officer Glenn Dale Hollow Horn, Oglala Tribal Public Safety, Officer Lloyd Aragon, New Mexico State Police, and Officer Robert James Taylor, Chippewa Cree Law Enforcement Services will join their fallen comrades on the Memorial.

Officer Glenn Dale Hollow Horn, deceased April 5, 1980. Officer Hollow Horn served with the Oglala Sioux Tribal Public Safety, Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Hollow Horn was accidentally shot by another officer while on duty.

Lloyd Aragon, deceased August 1, 2001. New Mexico State Police Officer Aragon was working with two Laguna Tribal police officers on the Laguna Reservation to stop a subject in a stolen vehicle. Officer Aragon was hit and killed by the suspect while placing stop sticks to apprehend the suspect.

Robert James Taylor, deceased May 27, 2002. Officer Taylor served with the Chippewa Cree Law Enforcement Services, Box Elder, Montana. Officer Taylor drowned while trying to save a fisherman that had capsized in his boat.

The Indian Country Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial site is constructed with Native American symbolism and traditional plants incorporated into the design. The three granite stones are surrounded by a cement/aggregate surface forming a circle around the vertical slabs with an opening to allow for access. Sage, a plant with spiritual significance, is planted in the four directions to consecrate the hallow ground. Four planter areas are filled foliage surrounded by white, red, yellow, and black stones to signify the four colors of mankind on the Earth.

The original Indian Country Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial was dedicated on May 7, 1992 at the BIA’s Indian Police Academy (IPA), in Marana, Arizona. The Memorial was later moved to Artesia, New Mexico and re-dedicated on May 6, 1993 when the BIA Indian Police Academy was relocated to New Mexico.

A 750 person department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Law Enforcement Services provide uniformed police services, detention operations, and criminal investigation of alleged or suspected violations of major federal criminal laws in Indian Country.

For specific information or directions to the event call 505-748-8153.

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