Law officers remember their dead in Artesia

WASHINGTON - On May 3 in Artesia, N.M., for the 16th year, the BIA conducted a memorial service for tribal, state and federal law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty on federal Indian lands or in tribal communities.

For only the third year since the initial dedication of the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial, no new name will be added to it, no officer having been identified as fallen in the line of duty. BIA spokesman Nedra Darling said that fact offered at least some ground for good feeling at the solemn occasion. The names of 87 American Indian and non-Indian officers killed in the line of duty since 1852 already inscribe the memorial, and the service this year honored them all.

Carl Artman, newly installed assistant secretary for Indian affairs at the BIA's parent Interior Department, served as guest speaker at the U.S. Indian Police Academy in Artesia. ''It is appropriate that we take time each year to remember the men and women who have died while working to protect Indian country,'' he told an audience of mostly BIA and law enforcement personnel and their families. ''We honor their lives and the sacrifices they and their families have made for the good of all Americans.''

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