Diamond introduces bill to honor fallen Maine troopers

AUGUSTA – Last week Senator Bill Diamond, a Democrat from Windham, introduced a bill to honor fallen Maine State Troopers by dedicating a mile of Interstate 95 to troopers who die in the line of duty.

LD 537, “An Act To Dedicate Sections of Maine's Interstate Highway System to Fallen State Troopers,” was the subject of a public hearing in front of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee. 

The Maine State Police was first formed 100 years ago, and since then we have tragically lost 12 Maine Troopers in the line of duty,” said Diamond. “Dying in the line of duty, selflessly giving their utmost to protect the rest of us, deserves our unbridled appreciation and acknowledgement. Losing a loved one is always heart-wrenching to family, friends and colleagues, but the added grief of having a life taken suddenly in a violent way is even more devastating. We owe these troopers our gratitude, and we’re obliged to remember them in a way that distinguishes their service.”

LD 537 would dedicate one mile of Interstate 95 to each of the 12 Maine State Troopers who have died in the line of duty, and to each trooper who dies in the line of duty moving forward.

As currently drafted, the bill would require markers to be placed on the northbound and southbound lanes of the one-mile stretch as near as possible to the site of the trooper’s death.

Future amendments to the bill may be required to align the bill’s intention with federal regulations for signage on interstates.

The bill is co-sponsored by a group of bipartisan legislators, including retired state trooper Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville. The bill is supported by the Maine State Police, the Maine State Troopers Association, the Maine Retired Troopers Association and the Department of Public Safety. Several family members of Maine State Troopers who died in the line of duty also submitted testimony in support of the bill.

Among them was the Rev. Dr. Kate Braestrup, Chaplain to the Maine Warden Service and widow of Trooper James Andrew “Drew” Griffith, who died in the line of duty in 1996.

“My husband’s name is among those that would be memorialized if this proposed measure is enacted, and it was my privilege to have been acquainted with several others, and to have come to know their families,” wrote Braestrup. “Maine’s troopers, motivated by love, continue to serve. The citizens of Maine can recognize and, in some small way, reciprocate and honor that love, by acknowledging the very real risks of such service, and in honoring the fallen, affirm their support for the living.”

LD 537 faces further action in committee. <