| URL | www.ODMP.org |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | No |
| Type of site | Online database |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Created by | Chris Cosgriff |
| Launched | 1996 |
| Current status | Active |
The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. (ODMP) is a non-profit organization that maintains a website listing American, Canadian, central European, Australian, and New Zealander law enforcement officers and prison officers who have died in the line of duty.
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The ODMP was established in 1996 by Chris Cosgriff, then a freshman at James Madison University. Cosgriff was inspired to create the website when he read a Washington Post article about the release of a murderer convicted of killing two Prince George's County, Maryland police officers from prison after serving 16 years.[1]
The site first only honored officers killed in 1996, but eventually expanded to include officers from the 1990s.[1] With assistance from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund the site expanded to list officers killed in the line of duty dating back to the 1790s.[1]
The ODMP claims to be accessed by over 250,000 unique visitors per month.[1] Its research staff are volunteers managed by a lieutenant from the New York City Police Department. The organization has uncovered hundreds of "forgotten" line-of-duty deaths and has assisted in ensuring those officers are properly recognized on the appropriate police memorials.
In 1997, Canada and Australia had their own pages added, followed by central Europe and New Zealand in 1998.[1]
In 2000, the ODMP was granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.[1] The operation of the site is paid for through private contributions as well as the proceeds from a gift shop selling T-shirts, bumper stickers and other items. The site is advertising-free.
In 2010, the ODMP's website became funded in part through a $150,000 grant received from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The ODMP maintains a detailed list of criteria.[2]
The site lists law enforcement and prison officers from all levels of government who have died in the line of duty due to criminal violence, accident, injury, illness or natural causes.[2]
The site also lists officers killed off duty if they were killed while acting in an official capacity to prevent loss of property, injury, death, or if targeted because they were law enforcement officers.[2] Military police officers in the U.S. armed forces or peacekeepers are listed if they died while conducting conventional law enforcement operations, but not if they died in military combat, exercises, or operations.[2] Investigators or special agents working for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, or Coast Guard Investigative Service are eligible under the same criteria that applies to conventional police officers and can be included if killed while assigned to wartime areas for criminal or investigative purposes.[2]
The ODMP does not list:
Each officer listed has a profile, typically displaying a picture or photograph, if available, the agency or department the officer worked for, their rank, years served with the agency or department, age, badge number and date of death, as well as a brief description of the events that led up to and caused the officer's death.
If the death was the result of an encounter with a criminal suspect, the ODMP does not usually give the suspect's name. However, it will state, if known, whether the suspect was apprehended, what sentence they have received if convicted, as well as if the suspect was acquitted or paroled. The profile ends with a list of all the agencies the officer ever served with, as well as any military experience and the immediate surviving relatives, though it does not give their names.
Each officer's profile has a "Reflections" section where visitors can post comments. These comments are moderated and negative, derogatory or abusive postings are removed.
There is a search function that allows searching by last name, agency, state (either including or not including federal, railroad, tribal and out-of-region officers killed within the region), range of years or cause of death.[3]
The earliest death listed is Albany County, New York constable Darius Quimby, killed on January 3, 1791. The earliest death of a federal officer listed is U.S. Marshal Robert Forsyth, killed on January 11, 1794. The earliest death of a female officer listed is New York State Department of Correctional Services head attendant Nellie Wicks killed on September 27, 1906.