How Are Names Added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial?

In 1786, Sheriff Benjamin Branch of Chesterfield County, Virginia, died when he was thrown from his horse during the performance of his law enforcement duties. He would become the first known law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty. His name is forever etched in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. As of May 2024, 24,067 police officers have joined Sheriff Branch on the Memorial. It is a solemn reminder that law enforcement is a dangerous profession, and these men and women answered that call and made the ultimate sacrifice. Sadly, that number continues to grow yearly as more names are added. 

Each year, the names added to the Memorial undergo a rigorous review process to ensure that the officers meet the criteria for inclusion. Two senior researchers with the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), Vanissa Varnado and Carolie Heyliger, perform this sometimes daunting and lengthy process. These two spoke about the review process and how departments, police chiefs, sheriffs, and the general public can assist. 

The first step is to submit a data form to the NLEOMF. Link here. Police administrators must submit this form promptly to the NLEOMF so the Memorial Names Committee can review the submissions. Data forms must be submitted by December 31st to be considered for the following year’s ceremony. Turning a data form in at the end of the year for an officer who was killed earlier in the year can cause delays, especially if the death was for natural causes. There are specific criteria for a death due to natural causes to be considered in the line of duty. The committee only has a few months to review these cases before their names are carved into the Memorial. 

Turning the data form into the NLEOMF early on allows the staff time to request and gather additional documents. The NLEOMF must have a copy of the death certificate, and it must include the cause of death. Additional documents may be requested depending on the cause of death. A felonious assault is much more straightforward than an officer dying from natural causes. For instance, an autopsy report may be requested for an officer who dies in a single-vehicle crash to determine if there was any impairment. If the death is from natural causes, the NLEOMF would need a twenty-four-hour summary of the officer’s last day to determine if there was a specific stressor that may have contributed to the death of the officer. Criteria for Natural Causes 

Once the NLEOMF has received the data form and all supporting documentation, the committee will review all the submissions to ensure they meet the inclusion criteria. A case may be put on hold for further information, or it can be denied. A department may resubmit if the submission is denied, but only with new documentation. For instance, in 2004, Durham (NC) police officer Billy Gregory died of a heart attack while working out at a gym. His submission was denied because his death did not meet the criteria for natural causes. A resubmission showed that he was assigned to the SWAT team, and he was required to work out as part of his job. Although it took a couple of years, the department was successful in getting Gregory’s death classified as a line-of-duty death. 

Occasionally, family members will contact the NLEOMF to find out why their relative is not on the Memorial. They are encouraged to submit documentation and the researcher will reach out to the agency for a formal submission if the case appears to meet the criteria. Link Here. Carolie Heyliger manages all cases that do not fall within the current year, and those deaths could go back as far as the 1700s. She utilizes computer databases and research tools like Newspaper.com and Ancestry.com to determine if their death meets the criteria. Historians can play a vital role in assisting the NLEOMF in identifying these officers who have been lost to history. Historians can work with local departments to fill out the data forms to be sent to the NLEOMF, making Heyliger’s job easier. Some cities or towns may not exist anymore. In that case, the submitting agency would be the one that currently patrols that area today, typically a county sheriff’s office. 

Another way departments can assist the NLEOMF during this process is to have a dedicated contact person. If the committee needs further documentation, the process goes faster when a person is readily available to work with the NLEOMF. Larger departments may have a Public Information Officer (PIO). Also, some deaths are not heavily publicized and could be overlooked. For instance, officers continue to die from cancer that was acquired during the September 11 attacks. The NLEOMF depends on departments to submit that information so the committee can act on it. 

The last step in the process is the approval phase. Once the committee approves the submissions, the NLEOMF will contact the agency and surviving family members. They will also work with the typesetters and ensure the proper spelling of the name before it is engraved on the Memorial. The engraving takes place sometime in early April and takes a couple of weeks to complete in preparation for Police Week in May. 

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022. This legislation recognized the impact of traumatic events on officers’ mental health and well-being and listed suicide for consideration of claims for an officer’s death. It was applied retroactively to 2019. Line-of-duty death benefits are administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Public Safety Officer’s Benefits Program (PSOB). As of now, the NLEOMF has not approved any officers for inclusion due to suicide. There is a separate data form for suicide Link Here, and the criteria can be found here Link Here.

For departments that need to submit data forms for a fallen officer, the NLEOMF requests the form be emailed to [email protected] with the officer’s name in the subject line. If the form must be mailed, it can be sent to NLEOMF, Attn: Research, 444 E. St NW, Washington D.C. 20001.