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..."
Line of Duty Deaths (LODD) Totals for 2019
41 LODD in 2019
Gunfire as the cause of death is 44% from previous years (2010 to 2018) with 51 cases of death by gunfire in 2018.
- 11 gun shot up 20% from same time last year
- 9 auto up 83%
- 11 Felonious Death up 56%
- 10 Non-felonious deaths up 44%
- 6 Military Veterans
- The agency with the highest number of LODD deaths is Arkansas and Texas with 2 each
- The average age of LODD is 41 years old and the youngest has been 23 years old and the oldest was 76 years old.
- The average length of service is 12 years, the shortest has been 7 days and the longest was 41 years
- Last year there were 150 LODD deaths in US
- Suicides out number LODD for 3rd straight year
- 895 LODD in last five years, and 1,711 in last 10 years.
- Law Enforcement continues to be one of the most dangerous professions in America
Blue Help a non profit working to prevent suicides says there were 159 suicides in 2018
Suicides out number LODD for 3rd straight year 2017 also 159 and 2016 178
Exposure to horrific situations shootings, accidents, etc add to stress and lack of mental health increases possibilities. Data indicates that less than 10% of police depts have suicide prevention services
DATA from Officer Down Memorial Page and it updates daily as researchers update information: www.odmp.org
Carmen's Message
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.
Our Current Fallen Heroes
KELVIN ANSARI
Savannah Police Department, Georgia
End of Watch Saturday, May 11, 2019
Sergeant Kelvin Ansari was shot and killed as he attempted to apprehend a robbery suspect.
He and other officers had responded to a robbery that occurred at a barber street in the 2300 block of Bull Street. The suspect was believed to have left the area but was inside of a nearby vehicle. As Sergeant Ansari checked the area the man exited and opened fire on him and another officer, striking them both.
The subject fled into a nearby a residential area where he was found a short time later hiding in a shed. As responding officers ordered him to surrender he exited the shed and opened fire again. He was fatally wounded by return gunfire.
Sergeant Ansari had retired from the U.S. Army and had served with the Savannah Police Department for 10 years.
ANTHONY NERI
Sanibel Police Department, Florida
End of Watch Monday, May 6, 2019
Police Officer Anthony Neri suffered a fatal heart attack while participating in his agency's physical ability testing at the Lee County Sheriff's Office range on Felix Romano Avenue.
He collapsed while conducting an exercise as part of the testing. He was transported to a local hospital where he passed away.
Officer Neri had served with the Sanibel Police Department for four years and had previously served with the Union Township Police Department in New Jersey for three years. He is survived by his wife.
ROBERT MCKEITHEN
Police Officer Robert McKeithen
Biloxi Police Department, Mississippi
End of Watch Sunday, May 5, 2019
Police Officer Robert McKeithen was shot and killed in the Lopez-Quave Public Safety Center's parking lot, at 170 Porter Avenue, at about 10:00 pm.
A male subject walked up to him and shot him multiple times without any provocation. The man fled and remains at large.
Officer McKeithen was transported to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.
Officer McKeithen had served with the Biloxi Police Department for 24 years and was planning on retiring by the end of the year. He is survived by his wife and three stepchildren.
Our Current Fallen K9 Heroes
K9 Doby
Fairfax County Police Department, VA
End of watch: February 22, 2019.
Help the Fallen
Texas635 is an IRS certified 501c3 organization.
Your donations will help us continue to assist our Fallen Officer Families and our surviving Police Co-workers
