A new location is to be announced Thursday for Richmond’s memorial statue to city police officers killed in the line of duty.

The location: The intersection of Blanton Avenue and Trafford Road, according to Glenwood Burley, the retired police officer leading the relocation effort.

The new site is in a quiet section of Byrd Park, located two blocks north of The Carillon and next door to a covered city reservoir, he said.

The site would position the statue as a symbol of a “protector of our children,” Mr. Burley said.

Mr. Burley and a committee he leads originally selected a site in front of The Carillon, the tall bell tower in Byrd Park that is a World War I memorial.

However, Mr. Burley changed his mind after the Carillon Civic Association raised objections that were supported by the statue’s sculptor, Maria Kirby-Smith.

She told Mr. Burley the police memorial statue would look like “a peanut on a billiard table” if it were placed in front of the towering Carillon.

The statue, which depicts a police officer carrying a child, currently is on 7th Street near the Richmond Coliseum. It was placed there on May 16, 1987, during National Police Week. It pays tribute to city officers and includes a plaque with the names of the 28 policemen killed in the line of duty between 1869 and 2003.

Mr. Burley found the statue neglected earlier this year and has been campaigning for it to be moved to a better site. He said he now will seek approval from Richmond City Council for the relocation to the new site.

Mr. Burley said private companies have volunteered to assist in moving the statue and creating a new base for it to stand on, including W.O. Grubb Crane Rental and the KBS Construction Co. Volunteer groups, he said, also plan to assist with landscaping, including Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

“I have started to form a team” to participate in the various aspects of the relocation, he said, which is likely to be done without cost to the city.

His goal: To have the move accomplished by May 15, which is designated as National Peace Officers Memorial Day.

“I expect to be standing there during our wreath-laying ceremony,” he said.