TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa city officials and law enforcement gathered Tuesday morning for the unveiling of a memorial sculpture to honor Tampa Police Officer Jesse Madsen and all fallen officers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
“We all put this uniform on every day and go out to serve the community with the intention of going home to our families at night, so the loss of an officer is something that cuts to the core of every single police officer that wears a uniform and a badge,” said Mayor Jane Castor.
The sculpture at the Tampa Police Department’s District 1 station pays tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of fallen officers.
Dominique Martinez with Rustic Steel is the designer and artist behind the sculpture.
“Putting this piece together, it wasn’t one set of drawings. It was constant changes of evolution because I didn’t like the way this looked or that didn’t fit right, so we had to literally take it apart so many times until it had the look that we wanted,” said Martinez.
The sculpture honors all fallen officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, including TPD Officer Jesse Madsen.
Detectives said a wrong-way driver hit and killed Madsen on I-275 in March 2021 and that Madsen moved his police car into the path of the driver to save the lives of others.
“To those lucky enough that have met Jesse Madsen, this six-foot-tall, 800-pound statue is just a small reflection of his strength, his unmatched zest for life, and his huge heart that could only be described by many as having the heart of a lion,” said Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor.
The sculpture, titled “Taking a Stance,” weighs 800 pounds, stands six feet tall, and is made up of various pieces of the police car that Officer Madsen was driving when the tragedy occurred.
“There was about 700 hours into the piece. You have over 1,000 feet of quarter-inch stainless steel cable,” said Martinez. “You have about 125 decommissioned guns that were given to us by Tampa Police Department.”
Steven Anthony Rogai was inspired by Officer Madsen’s courage and created the Rogai Family Foundation to raise money to fund the memorial sculpture.
