Engravers began adding 282 names on Monday of officers who died in the line of duty to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall. They will be the last added to the original walls at the downtown D.C. memorial.
“Surrounding us right now, on what we view are very sacred walls, are 23,785 names, the names of all of the men and women across the broad stretch of U.S. history, the men and women in law enforcement who have died in the line of duty,” said Bill Alexander, CEO of The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, during a short ceremony before the engraving process began.
The wall was built in 1991 and the names being sandblasted into it Monday will be the last added to the original memorial. At the time of its construction, builders thought it would hold enough names to last until 2100.
“It’s absolutely staggering to think about the ongoing costs in terms of preserving our democracy, trying to prevent chaos, trying to prevent crime on our streets to allow men and women to go about their lives and feel safe,” Alexander told WTOP. “The cost of that for our country every single year, unfortunately, is hundreds of lives.”
Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad was on hand to watch the work begin.
“I have brothers whose names are listed on this wall. This place means something to me. And I try to pay my respects to our fallen heroes as often as I can,” she told WTOP.
“When you walk through this memorial, you feel it, you feel the energy, you feel the grief, you feel the loss, you feel the pain, the hurt.”
The engraving of all 282 names could take weeks to complete.
Next month, as part of police week, those 282 names will be read out loud at a candlelight vigil on the National Mall.