WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will deliver the keynote address at the 20th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service being held Thursday, May 5, 2011, at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M. The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) holds the event to honor and commemorate tribal, state, local and federal law enforcement officers working on federal Indian lands and in tribal communities who have given their lives in the line of duty.
This year, seven names will be added bringing the total number of fallen officers listed on the memorial to 96. Those to be added are:
- BIA Deputy Special Officer A.H. Scott, killed June 22, 1925
- Uintah and Ouray Tribal Police Officer Joshua Yazzie, killed June 2, 2010
- City of Hoonah, Alaska, Police Officer Anthony Michael Wallace, killed August 28, 2010
- City of Hoonah, Alaska, Police Officer Matthew Dean Tokuoka, killed August 28, 2010
- U.S. Border Patrol Agent George Debates, killed December 19, 2004
- U.S. Border Patrol Agent Michael Vincent Gallagher, killed September 2, 2010
- Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Police Officer Merrill Allen Bruguier, killed October 9, 2010
The BIA-OJS will hold the service in conjunction with the International Association of Chiefs of Police Indian Country Law Enforcement Section, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and the U.S. Border Patrol. The memorial is located on the FLETC campus in Artesia.
The Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial was first dedicated on May 7, 1992, at the Indian Police Academy, which was then in Marana, Ariz. The academy and the memorial were later moved to their present site. The memorial was re-dedicated there on May 6, 1993.
The earliest name inscribed on the memorial dates back to 1852. In addition to those from BIA and tribal law enforcement, officers listed represent the U.S. Border Patrol, the New Mexico State Police, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Customs Bureau, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The list includes one female officer, from the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety, who was killed in 1998; a father and son, both BIA officers, who died in 1998 and 2001, respectively; and two FBI agents killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975.
The memorial’s design is based upon indigenous design concepts. Comprised of three granite markers sited within a circular walkway lined with sage, a plant of spiritual significance to many tribes, the memorial includes four planters filled with foliage in colors representing people of all races. The planters represent the four directions and are located near the walkway’s entrance.
WHO: Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.
WHAT: Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk will deliver the keynote address at the 20th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Service. The names of seven fallen officers will be added to the memorial this year.
WHEN: 10:00 a.m. (local time), Thursday, May 5, 2011.
WHERE: United States Indian Police Academy, DHS Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, 1300 West Richey Avenue, Artesia, N.M. Phone: 505-748-8151.
CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives, who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.
