Six-Figure Statue To Honor Troy Police Department Officers

TROY, MI — If all goes as planned, a five-foot statue will stand outside the Troy Police Department to honor fallen officers in 2018.

The Troy Police Department Honor Guard is spearheading the project and is currently reviewing bids for the possible award of a contract. The statue will be of a silver-colored police badge and will sit on a three-foot concrete base with a granite overlay.

The estimated cost of the project is up to $250,000. To help pay for the statue, the honor guard will hold a past dinner on March 15 at the San Marino Club. About $18,000 has already been raised.

“It would not only be a memorial to fallen officers, but a badge of pride for present and future police,” Troy Police Sgt. Frank Shuler recently told the Troy Times. He is also a member of the Troy Police Honor Guard.

The statue’s base will be inscribed with the “Police Officer’s Prayer.” The Troy Police Department’s values of honor, integrity, courage, service and dedication will also be inscribed.

The Troy Times reported that a blue light that would also be installed at the statue. It would shine at night and represent the often heard phrase, “the thin blue line.”

The honor guard hopes to have the project completed by the department’s Memorial Day ceremonies in 2018, which usually falls in mid May or early June.

Completing the project will depend in large part on raising funds. The pasta dinner, which will be held from 5-9 p.m. on March 15 at 1865 E. Big Beaver Road, could go a long way to help raise those funds.

Tickets will cost $10 per person. For the price, attendees will get all-you-can-eat pasta dinner with rolls, soft drinks and coffee.

A limited-sale raffle will be held at the dinner, too. Tickets will be $20, and prizes include a $2,000 travel voucher; a guitar autographed by Kid Rock; a golf outing with the Detroit Red Wings’ Darren McCarty and U.S. Rep. Dave Trott, R-Birmingham; and VIP Detroit Tigers tickets, which include dinner at the Champions Club, parking and watching batting practice on the field, the Troy Times reported.

For tickets to the dinner, to donate raffle items or to make a financial donation, visit the Troy Police Department, 500 W. Big Beaver Road, call (248) 524-3448 or email andy.satterfield@troymi.gov.

Photo by CPOA via Flickr Commons