Inmates Kick In $3,300 For Public Safety Monument

PLAINFIELD, Ind. (AP) — A fundraising drive to build a monument honoring public safety officers has some unlikely supporters: Indiana prison inmates.

Inmates at a prison in the Indianapolis suburb of Plainfield have donated $3,300 toward the $97,000 project, the Indianapolis Star reported.

"It says a lot for those who were actually arrested by those public safety officials to want to stand up and commemorate them," said Dave Weaver, a retired prison educator who is leading the fundraising effort. "That also shows what kind of community we live in."

The monument, to be called Celebration of Service Plaza, has been proposed for Friendship Gardens Park in Plainfield. Chad Platt, the prison's recreation coordinator, said inmates contributed money during a fundraiser in which they were allowed to buy Pizza Hut pizzas and Arby's sandwiches.

He said they might have been motivated by the food, which typically isn't available to them.

Weaver wants the monument to inspire visitors to think about the people who keep them safe. He hopes to complete the project next year.

"I saw the repeated stories on national news about policemen getting shot," Weaver said, "so I approached one of the Town Council members and suggested we should not be waiting until someone gets killed before we recognize our policemen and firefighters."