Photos courtesy of Dallas County Sheriff Adam Infante

The Dallas County Sheriff is planning to create a structure that will honor Iowa’s fallen law enforcement officers, and is seeking the public’s help.

Sheriff Adam Infante explains that a memorial will be built along the Raccoon River Valley Trail behind the Dallas County Law Enforcement Center off of Highway 6 in Adel. He says the idea to create this structure came about 10 years ago when there was a period of multiple officer-related deaths in Dallas County, while the new law enforcement center was being made. Infante acknowledges that the timing of those incidents sparked the thought to build a memorial to not only recognize those individuals who paid the ultimate price in service to Dallas County, but those throughout the state of Iowa as well. 

Infante notes the sheriff’s office formed a non-profit organization called “Ride The Thin Blue Line” and welcomes residents and businesses to make monetary donations, as no taxpayer money will be used for the project. He believes that this memorial will offer a great tribute to Iowa officers that have served.

“There’s several different Peace Officer Memorial sites across the state, but in my opinion (from) what I can tell, this one might be one of the biggest ones. And because of its proximity to the bike trail, and the fact that the bike trail gets tens of thousands of riders every year, we feel like this will be a pretty big attraction. So we’re hoping that this becomes a destination and kind of a landmark.”

Infante indicates that they would like to break ground by spring of 2026, but that will depend on how much funding there is, as he is hoping to raise $1.5 million. Individuals or organizations are encouraged to donate to the project, and the link can be found by clicking here.