License Plate to Honor Oregon's Fallen Public Safety Officers to be Released September 1

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The Fallen Public Safety Officer License plate, honoring fallen firefighters and law enforcement officers that are killed in the line of duty, will be available from the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday, September 1st , 2010.

Money raised from the purchase of the license plate will support families and escorting officers as they attend the national memorial honoring the fallen public safety officer.

During the 2009 legislative session House Bill 2569 allowed for the Public Safety Officer License Plate to be added to DMV's specialty plate selection. It received nearly unanimous support from both the House and the Senate.

Money earned from the Fallen Public Safety Officer License plate will be put in a fund managed by the Police Memorial Trust Fund and a special committee comprised of law enforcement, fire department, and citizen members. Each license plate will cost an additional $8 a year (an additional $32 for two years of registration).

Oregon law requires that no tax dollars be spent on creating and implementing a specialty license plate. Even with our difficult economic climate, the Police Memorial Trust Fund was able to raise all $23,700 in DMV administrative fees and plate manufacturing costs in less than six weeks. These dollars were raised through the generous donations of law enforcement and fire personnel and private citizens. An additional campaign was run through a Facebook account with over 8,000 members.

The idea for the Fallen Public Safety Officer license plate began shortly after the horrific events in Woodburn in December 2008, when a bomb inside a bank killed Woodburn Police Captain Tom Tennant and Oregon State Police Senior Trooper William Hakim. Mary Nunnenkamp, retired from the Washington County Sheriff's Office, began working with Oregon State Representative Matt Wingard to develop legislation to create the license plate. Even in a crowded legislative session and with thirteen other license plates vying for legislative approval, the license plate passed both chambers and was signed into law in June 2009.

The national memorial for fallen firefighters takes place in Emmitsburg, Maryland and the national memorial for fallen law enforcement officers occurs in Washington, D.C.

There are more than 35,000 law enforcement, corrections, parole and probation, fire, and telecommunications personal working in the state of Oregon.

For more information on the license plate please contact Oregon DMV.


Author:Oregon Dept. of Public Safety Standards & Training