Peace Officers Memorial
This memorial is dedicated to the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving and protecting the State of California.
Dedicated on May 13, 1988, the centerpiece of the monument is a thirteen-foot-tall bronze relief sculpture depicting three law enforcement officers: an 1880s county sheriff, a 1930s state traffic officer, and a 1980s city patrolman. Together, these figures represent the evolution of law enforcement in California. On the base of the monument, designers inscribed these simple yet poignant words: “In the Line of Duty.” Along the back of the monument, and on the brick planter box in front of the monument, are individual plaques inscribed with the names of officers who lost their lives while serving the public.
An additional sculpture was commissioned by the California Peace Officers’ Memorial Foundation (CPOMF) and unveiled in May 2022 after the 2019 deaths of two female officers in the line of duty. This 7-foot-tall bronze statue features a kneeling female honor guard officer presenting a folded flag and is located in the center of the brick planter box in front of the original memorial monument.
Another important element of the monument is a sculpture depicting a woman comforting a child. Cast in bronze, the seated woman rests on a bench embracing the child standing in front of her. Beside them on the bench is a folded, bronze folded American flag. The woman and child serve as a vivid and permanent reminder of the grief that family members and friends experience each year when, during the week of May 15, they gather to honor the officers who have fallen in the line of duty during the preceding year. As part of the ceremony, officers’ names are read and added to the memorial so that the public will not forget their sacrifice. Some names on the monument date back as far as the nineteenth century.
It is fitting that the artist who designed the monument was himself a retired police officer. Retired Division Chief Vic Riesau, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, not only designed the monument and created the artwork but also assisted with the fundraising efforts. The influence of both his tenure as a police officer and his experience as an artist lend themselves to this striking and meaningful monument.
Additionally, history was made at this year’s ceremony with the unveiling of a long-overdue new statue honoring our sisters in blue. The statue was commissioned by the California Peace Officers’ Memorial Foundation (CPOMF) after the 2019 deaths of two young female officers, Davis Officer Natalie Corona and Sacramento Officer Tara O’Sullivan. “Women are doing the same job as men in law enforcement,” CPOMF President Kevin Mickelson said in an interview with PORAC Law Enforcement News. “When an officer is killed in the line of duty, I doubt very seriously the suspect cares one way or the other whether they are a man or woman. Women officers face the same dangerous situations as men, and it’s time their service and sacrifice are recognized.” The 7-foot-tall statue features a kneeling female honor guard officer presenting a folded flag, and is located in the circular planter in front of the original memorial monument.
To learn more about the statue, read “Memorializing Our Fallen Sisters” at PORAC.org.
