LaPorte County memorial honors fallen officers; U.S. 12 dedicated to Chief Marshall James R. Couts

LaPorte County held its annual combined law enforcement memorial on May 15, with speeches, music and a roll call honoring officers who died in the line of duty and a formal unveiling of a memorial sign dedicating a portion of U.S. Highway 12 to Chief Marshall James R. Couts.

Sheriff Ron Heek opened the service and framed the event around National Peace Officers Memorial Day and National Police Week, noting that the national memorial lists roughly 24,775 names and saying "to date, 15 officers within LaPorte County bravely gave their lives for the safety and betterment of all LaPorte County residents." Heek also described modern policing stresses, saying the job’s demands are intense and personal.

The Michigan City Police chaplain gave an invocation asking the community to "hold their memory with the weight it deserves" and urged attendees to carry the memorial into how they support families of the fallen. Fraternal Order of Police Dunes Lodge 75 President Brian Wright spoke about the profession’s traditions and invited family members to place carnations during the slide presentation honoring each officer.

Chief Marshall Mark Swiss described Chief Marshall James R. Couts’s service, including his military decorations and his actions on the night of the Nov. 4, 1997 accident when he was struck while directing traffic. Retired LaPorte County Captain Michael Kellums described the year-long process that led to a concurrent resolution in the Indiana legislature to rename the stretch of U.S. 12 from the Michigan border to the Illinois border the "Chief Marshall James R. Couts Memorial Highway." Senator Bahhatchic read the resolution’s enabling language on-site, noting Couts’s birth date, Vietnam service and three Bronze Stars and saying the renaming was fitting to preserve his memory.

Several state legislators and local officials who had supported the measure addressed the audience. Randy Novak and Representative Pat Boyd (as referenced) recalled arriving at the scene in 1997 and described the bipartisan committee attention and unanimous committee votes they said led to a unanimous floor vote in the state house. "It was a long process, but it was worth every minute," one organizer said.

Retired Chief Robert Sokowski offered unscripted remarks about Couts and recognized support organizations that assist survivors of line-of-duty deaths, including the Fraternal Order of Police Critical Incident Team and Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.). The ceremony then proceeded to the end-of-watch roll call, during which dozens of names, dates and causes of death were read aloud to honor officers from across eras; the roll call included Chief Marshall James R. Couts (end of watch Dec. 4, 1997 — struck by a motor vehicle).

LaPorte High School senior Elena Hannon performed the national anthem and First Sergeant Brian Schnik of the Indiana State Police played TAPS. Organizers closed with a benediction asking for courage and strength and invited attendees to a reception and lunch following the ceremony.

The concurrent resolution urging the Indiana Department of Transportation to rename the specified portion of U.S. Highway 12 was described in the ceremony as having passed out of committee with unanimous support and been approved by the state house; the transcript states those votes were unanimous, though vote tallies and committee vote records were not provided at the event. The memorial sign was unveiled with family members present. The event concluded with the invitation for family members to place carnations and a slide presentation honoring each fallen officer.

What happens next: organizers encouraged continued community support for survivors and noted the highway renaming is now part of the state’s official actions; any questions about installation timing or signage specifics were not addressed at the ceremony and were listed as "not specified."