The name of Cortez Police Department Sgt. Michael Moran has been added to the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial, which honors the state’s fallen officers.
The memorial is at 15055 S. Golden Road in Golden. It was created to honor officers who died in the line of duty. Moran’s name was added Friday.
Three officers who died in the line of duty in 2023, as well as seven “historical” Colorado line-of-duty deaths, were formally added to the Memorial.
The memorial now has 359 engraved names.
The 2023 fallen officers honored were Moran, who was fatally shot during a traffic stop on Nov. 29; Julian Becerra from the Fountain Police Department, who died Feb. 11; and Christine Guerin-Sandoval of the Colorado Department of Corrections, who died on Sept. 28.
The other officers honored were John McIlhaney of the Robinson Marshal’s Office (died in 1881), Martin Heck of the Durango Marshal’s Office (died in 1886), Harry Montague of the El Moro Marshal’s Office (died in 1889), Angelo Carli of the Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office (died in 1897), Jake Pate of the Salida Marshal’s Office (died in 1910), Eustache Re of the Firestone Marshal’s Office (died in 1919) and Bryan Thiel of the Internal Revenue Service’s Denver Office (died in 2018).
According to a news release, the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial was created in 1979 and was funded by Shirley Brown of SLB Inc. until 1986. Since then, it has been run and maintained by donations from law enforcement organizations and private donations.
The memorial is open to the public.
