Clint Eastwood Takes on New Role as Honorary Chairman For National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Legendary actor, and Oscar award-winning director and producer Clint Eastwood has agreed to serve as Honorary Chairman for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum in Washington, DC.

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"The National Memorial and Museum are long overdue and richly deserved tributes to the men and women in law enforcement," declared Mr. Eastwood.  "On average, an officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in America every 53 hours.  Some 60,000 officers a year are assaulted resulting in 16,000 injuries.  Yet, despite those daunting risks, some 800,000 men and women go out every day to serve and protect us.  I am deeply honored to help tell their heroic story of service and sacrifice," he stated.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) built and dedicated America's national monument to fallen peace officers in 1991, and is now constructing the National Law Enforcement Museum.  The National Memorial bears the names of 19,298 names of Federal, state and local officers who have been killed in the line of duty, dating back to the first death in 1791.  Officer deaths have spiked the past two years, including 102 fatalities already in 2011.

Authorized by Congress, the Museum will be built on Federal land right across the street from the National Memorial.  Groundbreaking on the Museum occurred in October 2010 and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013.

The three-story experiential Museum will offer high-tech interactive exhibitions, along with thousands of historical artifacts to tell the story of American law enforcement.  The Museum will feature a Hall of Remembrance that will chronicle the lives of the officers who made the supreme sacrifice.  As the largest and most comprehensive law enforcement-focused museum in the world, the institution is designed to help visitors better understand and appreciate law enforcement's vital role in our society.

As Honorary Chairman, Mr. Eastwood will help raise public awareness for the Memorial and Museum with an informative PSA campaign. In 2007, the NLEOMF publicly launched a capital campaign called "A Matter of Honor" to build our nation's first-ever National Law Enforcement Museum.  To date, more than $43 million has been raised toward the $80 million goal.

"Clint Eastwood is an American icon, and we are extremely pleased and grateful that he has agreed to play a leadership role in helping us honor America's law enforcement professionals and complete their National Museum," declared Memorial Fund Chairman and CEO Craig W. Floyd.

"Thousands of real-life, sworn law enforcement officers never make it home," Mr. Eastwood explained. "They make the ultimate sacrifice.  We owe those who have fallen, and all of our nation's law enforcement officers, a huge debt of gratitude," he concluded.

About the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
Established in 1984, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is a private non-profit organization dedicated to honoring the service and sacrifice of America's law enforcement officers and to promoting officer safety. The Memorial Fund maintains the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC, which contains the names of 19,298 officers who have died in the line of duty throughout U.S. history. The Memorial Fund is now working to create the National Law Enforcement Museum, which will tell the story of law enforcement through high-tech, interactive exhibitions, historical artifacts and extensive educational programming. For more information, visit www.LawMemorial.org.

Contact: Steve Groeninger
202-737-7135 | [email protected]

SOURCE National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund