Plan for Memorial to Firefighters, Police Unveiled
On the eve of his departure for the state Senate, outgoing Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon unveiled an artists’ sketch Thursday of a proposed memorial for police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.
“I think we constantly have to remind ourselves of the challenges our police and firefighters face and what they sacrifice for us,” said Alarcon, who has proposed Panorama City as a site. “This week the point was made given the loss of Officer [Brian] Brown.”
Brown, a 27-year-old single father, was killed when a fleeing suspect opened fire from a car Sunday night in the Fox Hills Mall area.
Although there are at least four such memorials in the city, Alarcon said one is needed in the Valley. He has suggested the retail and industrial complex being built at the former General Motors assembly plant in Panorama City, where police and fire facilities are also planned.
Because city law requires that developers set aside 1% of project construction costs for public art, there is already $170,000 available for the memorial, he said.
There are memorials for police and firefighters at the Civic Center downtown and at the police training facility in Westchester.
There is a memorial at Parker Center and one recently dedicated at the site of a Fire Department helicopter crash in Griffith Park.
Officials said 191 LAPD officers have been killed on the job since 1907 and 52 firefighters have died in the line of duty.
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