Senate Passes Bill to Create State Trooper Highway Memorial Task Force

Senator Patrick M. Gallivan (R-C-I, Elma) announces the Senate has approved legislation (S.1980) to create a State Trooper Highway Memorial Task Force to recognize troopers who have sacrificed their lives in service to the state.  The task force would also develop and establish guidelines for honoring members of the State Police who have died in the line of duty.   

“It is appropriate for the state to recognize those members of the State Police who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the residents of New York,” Gallivan said.  “The members of the task force would establish guidelines for memorializing these brave men and women and provide a method by which these memorials are created.”

The task force would be comprised of the Commissioner of Transportation, the Superintendent of State Police and a member of the Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers, Inc.  

The legislation would also allow any person to submit a petition to the State Trooper Highway Memorial Task Force seeking recognition for members of the state police killed in the line of duty.  Members of the task force would determine the appropriate form and location of the memorial.

“Similar memorials exist throughout the state, but it makes sense to have a system in place to streamline the process and to make sure troopers are properly recognized,” Gallivan said.

Gallivan is a former New York State Trooper and Sheriff of Erie County.  The legislation will be sent to the State Assembly.

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