What began as a desire to give back, became a reality …….

What began as a desire to give back, became a reality ……

It began with a phone call no Law Enforcement Family wants to receive, “It is with great sadness that we inform you that your loved one has been killed while on duty.” The words and circumstances may be different but the loss, the grief, the emptiness is the same. 

From that moment life became a blur and I functioned mechanically not really focusing on what was going on around me. So many thoughts and emotions, how was I ever going to go on? Would I ever feel like living again? How will I deal with the emptiness? Even if you don’t want to think about it, you worry about finances, how are we going to pay bills. 

From the moment we received the notification; calls, messages, visits and mail began to come in from all over the country. All of these were from persons we did not even know but all had a common thread, the “Thin Blue Line”. Support was from Law Enforcement Families, Officers, and Supporters of Law Enforcement all sending love, support, and prayers. All of this support definitely helped us through some awful times and provided some comfort and peace. 

One evening weeks after Floyd’s memorial as I sat at home with family writing thank you notes, I shared with them that I wanted to give some of that love and support back to others who found themselves in our situation. My family supported my idea 100 percent and even offered to help. They too wanted to do something to honor Floyd and help others, so we began to research needs of Law Enforcement Officers and their families. 

We found so much data and information that we had to decide on what we could realistically do. When an officer dies in the line of duty families experience a loss of income immediately. Pay due and insurances are not quickly paid and can even take months depending on the type of death. So, one of our goals was to help a surviving family with immediate one-time financial assistance. 

The other area we felt passionate about was helping the Law Enforcement surviving coworker. Law Enforcement Officers experience a tremendous amount of stress in their jobs already and when they lose a coworker friend additional stress is added. Many do not access departmental resources for fear of being labeled so we all agreed that we wanted to help them by providing supportive events to help cope with the loss and stress associated with their jobs. 

And we want to do all this by engaging our local law enforcement groups and our community so we can work together and bring about change in perceptions of Law Enforcement here at home and across the country. 

Texas635 is an IRS 501c3 certified organzation.

Detective Amber Joy Leist

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, California

End of Watch Sunday, January 12, 2020

Detective Amber Leist was struck and killed by a vehicle at the intersection of Riverside Drive and Whitsett Avenue in Los Angeles at 11:05 am.

She was off duty when she observed an elderly woman fall in the roadway while attempting to cross at the intersection. Detective Leist immediately stopped her vehicle and assisted the woman off of the roadway in order to prevent the citizen from being struck. As Detective Leist returned to her car she was struck by an oncoming vehicle.

Detective Leist had served with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for 12 years. She is survived by her two sons.

Police Officer Paul Dunn

Lakeland Police Department, Florida

End of Watch Thursday, January 9, 2020

Police Officer Paul Dunn was killed in a motorcycle crash on Lakeland Highlands Road, south of Lake Miriam Drive, at approximately 5:45 am.

He was en route to the police station on his department motorcycle when he struck the raised median of the roadway. He was thrown from the motorcycle and sustained fatal injuries.

Officer Dunn was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He had served with the Lakeland Police Department for six years and had previously served with the Polk County Sheriff's Office for 12 years. He is survived by his wife and three adult children.