The School of Justice at Miami Dade College installed a mural—the Fallen Officer’s Memorial Wall of Honor—on Aug. 18 to honor police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty in Miami-Dade County since 1895.
Positioned near the entrance of Building J at North Campus, the memorial, which is 16-inch tall by 18-inch wide, features 177 acrylic nameplates with officers’ names and the date they died.
It’s augmented by a small screen that will include an interactive feature in the future to give visitors a short narrative about the officers’ lives, careers and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
“We’re proud to memorialize these officers to recognize their sacrifice,” said Richard Clements, director of the School of Justice, who worked at the Miami Beach Police Department for 33 years. “Moreover, I think the whole premise is that they will never be forgotten.”
Miami-Dade Police Department officers, School of Justice officials and trainees gathered at North Campus to inaugurate the memorial.
When the School of Justice moved to its new building in 2024, Clements wanted to continue the tradition of honoring fallen officers once established at the school’s previous headquarters in building 8 with a modernized design.
A $50,000 donation from Metro Life Church, which is led by pastor Stephen Alessi who is the chaplain for the School of Justice, made the project possible.
The mural took approximately six months to build, according to Evelyn Rodriguez the senior director of campus administration at North Campus.
To assure that the records on the Fallen Officer’s Memorial Wall of Honor were accurate, the SOJ enlisted the help of the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Miami-Dade Police Officers Assistance Trust. They maintain records of officers who have died in the line of duty.
In May, the SOJ plans to hold an event during the National Police Officers Week to recognize the officers memorialized on the mural.
“Hopefully, there will be no more officers added to it anytime in the near future. Right now, we believe we’ve honored every officer that has given their life in the line of duty,” Clements said. “We plan on doing the memorial acknowledgement every year.”
