Every year, over 900,000 law enforcement officers risk their lives protecting our communities; businesses, families, and neighbors. These law enforcement officers endanger their lives to ensure the safety and rights of every American. Law enforcement is a noble and dangerous line of work and in carrying out their duties, not every officer returns home at the end of the day. Approximately one officer is killed in the line of duty every two days in the United States—over 150 annually.

The Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation was created with two goals in mind: The first and foremost is to assist the survivors of officers who have been killed in the line of duty to obtain all of the statutory benefits that may be available to them. The second goal is to provide each family coping with their loss with a lasting symbol of recognition for the life of service the officer courageously gave.

A surviving family may be eligible for substantial death benefits from the Federal Government through the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, as well as from various State and local governments, including special public safety death benefits, workers compensation, retirement fund provisions, and other financial assistance and services such as educational scholarships for the surviving spouse and children. Many families and law enforcement departments are unaware that these resources are available. Even if they are aware, the process to obtain benefits a family might be entitled can be complex, involving legal terminology and requirements for documentation, a daunting application process, and statutory deadlines. Benefits also vary significantly from one jurisdiction to another. Added to this is the fact that over 70% of the officers killed in the line of duty are members of law enforcement agencies in small towns and rural counties. Casualties in 2005 were experienced by a department with as few as four officers, and by many departments that had never experienced a line of duty death before.

The unfortunate reality is that if survivor benefits are not applied for, they are not received. Therefore the Foundation carries out its primary goal of assuring awareness and access through the work of Board of Trustees, its staff, its national network of pro-bono lawyers, its State Benefits Advisory Board, and its Chief’s Advisory Board.

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees oversees all activities of the Foundation. Currently, the Board is made up of 25 senior, sworn officers from police departments, sheriff’s departments, and state police departments. All Trustees are either on their respective police, city or county pension boards and/or hold leadership roles within their police organizations. The Board of Trustees’ primary function is to advise the law enforcement agencies about the Foundation and its activities. Additionally, the Trustees are responsible for alerting the foundation when there is an officer down. The law enforcement will be apprised of the programs and provided information identifying all of the available federal and state benefits. A representative from the Foundation will then contact the department to determine the level of assistance needed.

The Foundation also calls on the services of its volunteer Benefits Advisory Board, which includes two groups of experts: Federal, who handle the Public Safety Officers Benefits (PSOB) under the Bureau of Justice Assistance Program, and State, who are knowledgeable about their respective state benefits.

The State Benefits Advisory Board is comprised primarily of the directors of state retirement systems, which many times administer the police pension systems for both state and many local agencies. Our organization is the resource for the United States. When a department has a question regarding state benefits available to the families, Foundation staff can put them in contact with one of our state directors, assuring they will obtain the correct answers at the first call.

The Chief’s Advisory Board helps provide the Foundation with consultative advice on policy, trends and needs related to survivor benefits and policies.

The second goal of The Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation is to provide each family with a memorial statue, crafted by award-winning sculptor Deran Wright. Entitled “Watchful Gaze,” the statue is a lion representing an officer standing watch over his or her family. The badge of the fallen officer is displayed on the base of the statue, along with a plate engraved with the officer’s name and their term of service. The foundation feels that it is important for the families coping with their loss to have symbolic and emotional recognition of their loved one’s death and for the life of service the officer courageously gave.

The Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation helps families, who as a result of a law enforcement officer’s death, are enduring personal hardship. The number one concern of any police officer is the financial security of his or her family. The Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation is able to aid families of slain public safety officers in easily receiving the financial security available to them. As the national advocates for these families our goal is to make sure no loved one is left behind.