Memorial honors fallen law enforcement
EL CENTRO – For the first time since 2009, the Imperial Valley Law Enforcement Memorial has additional markers.
Committee members and other volunteers erected U.S. flags with plaques representing every local, state and federal law enforcement official who has died while on duty serving Imperial County since 1920. The memorial is set up on the Superior Courthouse grounds in El Centro.
That tally had stood at 41 since 2009, when state Correctional Officer Arnold Obeso and U.S. Border Patrol Agent Robert Wimer Rosas lost their lives on duty. Those marked the end of a rash of eight such deaths over the course of three years.
It also marked the first year a group consisting of active and retired law enforcement officials from different agencies formed the Imperial Valley Law Enforcement Memorial Committee. The group, which is funded through private donations, has commemorated their fallen brethren every year but 2020, when the pandemic first struck.
The tradition resumed Friday to coincide with National Police Week, which begins Sunday. A group of volunteers led by committee Chairman Wes Boerner, retired sergeant of the California Highway Patrol, laid out the grid and set the flags for 43 law officers. The new additions were El Centro Police Department Sgt. Efren Coronel, who died June 3,
2020, from COVID-19 complications after becoming infected by a suspect, and U. S. Border Patrol Agent Alejandro Flores-Bañuelos, who died March 15 after being struck by a car while trying to assist another motorist.
The memorial will remain in place until next Friday, Boerner said.
On Friday evening, a caravan consisting of dozens of law enforcement vehicles with lights flashing made its way from the U.S. Border Patrol Station on
Aten Road and stopped in front of the courthouse, where the representatives of multiple agencies stopped, left their vehicles, lined up and saluted the memories of those who have gone before them.
The Imperial Valley Law Enforcement Memorial Committee intends to establish a permanent memorial at the Pioneers Museum in Imperial and is currently raising money for the project.
The project is expected to cost be
tween $150,000 and $200,000. Boerner estimated the committee has raised about 10 percent of the funds needed.
Those interested in contributing to the project can do so by making payment to Imperial County Historical Society, 373 E. Aten Road, Imperial, CA 92251. Include a notation that the payment is for IVLEM.
The historical society’s federal ID is 95-3108550 for tax purposes.