Lawrence Bromley made a positive difference in Dallas, Texas, while a member of the city’s police department. He paid the ultimate price in December 1991 when he was killed in the line of duty while working an undercover operation. In honor of his memory and service, the Bromley Training Center located in the C.E. Weldon Building in downtown Martin will officially be named for the fallen officer in a 10:30 a.m. ceremony, Tuesday, May 24, on the Main Street side of the city’s former public library. Based on university records, Bromley is the only UT Martin criminal justice graduate to serve in law enforcement and lose his life in the line of duty.
Bromley was a 1981 UT Martin criminal justice graduate from Hohenwald. His wife, Cynthia, of South Fulton, was a 1982 home economics graduate. He was recruited in Martin by the Dallas Police Department in 1981 and went to work there after graduation. His wife was a police dispatcher in Dallas and died in 1997.
The event will include presentation of the colors by the five-officer Dallas Police Department Honor Guard, welcoming comments from UT Martin Chancellor Keith Carver and Martin Mayor Randy Brundige, and remarks by Dr. Brian Donavant, UT Martin professor of criminal justice. Don Green, a Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission member and 1981 UT Martin graduate who was raised in South Fulton, is the keynote speaker. The POST Commission is responsible for developing and enforcing standards and training for all local police officers in the state. A plaque presentation and dedication will conclude the event. Also attending will be Bromley’s sister, Nancy Ray, and her husband, Brad, who live in Lexington and are both UT Martin graduates.
The center space is provided by the city of Martin and made possible following the construction and opening of the new Martin Public Library. The facility features a VirTra judgmental use-of-force simulator purchased through a USDA Delta Health Care Services grant awarded to the UT Martin Criminal Justice Program for its De-escalation Techniques and Emergency Response Project.
The two-year DETER Project is funded at $547,293 and will deliver de-escalation and emergency health-intervention education and training to reduce the injury and mortality rates of police-citizen encounters. Jackson State Community College and Carey Counseling Center, Inc., are partnering with UT Martin for the project. Donavant and Dr. Cindy Boyles, UT Martin associate professor of criminal justice, wrote the grant and guide the project.
The public is invited to attend the naming. The C.E. Weldon Building is currently undergoing external renovations, but all public areas will be open and easily accessible. For information, call the Office of University Relations at 731-881-7615. The UT Martin Criminal Justice Program awards bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice and partners with the Law Enforcement Innovation Center, an agency of the UT Institute of Public Service, to offer the National Forensic Academy Collegiate Program.
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