Volunteers Needed During Police Week

Our good friends at Concerns of Police Survivors are looking for volunteers at the survivor's hotel during Police Week. This is an excellent chance to help survivors during one of the most important weeks of the year. I've done this each year for the past 15 or so years, and I can tell you from experience it's the week I look forward to the most each year. You will not regret helping out and meeting the survivors and other officers who are volunteering!!!

Any and all help is appreciated, even if it's only for an hour or two. If you can help, please contact Cathy Hill at [email protected]

All of the help is needed at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center (the survivor's host hotel). The hotel is a 15 minute drive from downtown DC in Alexandria, Virginia. Here's a quick breakdown of what is needed when:

May 12th, 8:30 am - whenever work if finished

• Unload supplies from truck
• Prepare tote bags for survivors (to be handed out at registration)
• Display and info table setup

May 13th

• 8 am - 5 pm: Staff registration tables (provide name tags, tote bags, info, etc. to survivors)
• 5 pm - 8 pm: Assist families to Candlelight Vigil (for families that don't have escort officers)

May 14th

• 8 am - 5 pm: Staff information tables
• 8 am - 5 pm: Assist survivors to conference sessions
• Evening: Staff games and concessions at the Sawyer Circus (Suzie Sawyer's retirement part!!!)

May 15th

• Morning: Assist survivors at the host hotel

May 16th

• 8 am - 5 pm: Staff information tables
• 8 am - 5 pm: Assist survivors to conference sessions
• Afternoon: Teardown of conference space, info tables, etc.
• Afternoon: Setup for Hoedown at the Hilton (the survivor picnic that officially ends Police Week)

May 17th

• Morning: Reload the truck!!!

Join Us at the National Police Week 5K on May 14

On Saturday, May 14th, 2011, - right in the middle of Police Week - the fifth annual National Police Week 5K will be held in Washington, DC.

The event raises awareness and funds for the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) and Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.). Like the previous runs, this year's event will be a sellout with over 2,200 runners and walkers expected to participate.

The 2011 NPW5K adds a new element not seen in previous years. This year, we're asking all participants to obtain pledges and donations from friends, family and fellow officers. Raising money is required to run, but we're asking you to support the cause! If each runner were to raise $50 from their friends and family the 5K organizers would be able to donate over $100,000 MORE to ODMP and C.O.P.S.

So, if you're already planning your trip to DC for Police Week, come and join the ODMP's Founder and Executive Director, Chris Cosgriff, at the 2011 National Police Week 5K.

Register early (before March 1st) and receive a $5 discount from the registration fee!

Event: National Police Week 5K
Date: Saturday, May 14th, 2011 (9:00 am)
Location: Washington, DC

Register Now

Deadliest Januaries in Law Enforcement History

In all respects, the first few weeks of 2011 were looking "good" for law enforcement. Following an increasingly dangerous 2010, line of duty deaths were actually tracking at a lower rate than in January 2010. Then the last five days happened.

Det. Amanda Haworth

Det. Roger Castillo

On January 20, 2011, Detective Roger Castillo and Detective Haworth were fatally shot and a third detective was wounded while assigned to a federal task force in Miami, Florida. Everyone thought it couldn't get any worse.

On Sunday, January 23, all hell broke loose. Two Kitsap County, Washington, deputies were shot and wounded in a WalMart parking lot. Four Detroit police officers were wounded when a man armed with a shotgun stormed a precinct station house. An Indianapolis Metro police officer is now fighting for his life after being shot in the head twice during a traffic stop, and a Lincoln City, Oregon, police officer was shot and wounded following a traffic stop on a coastal highway Sunday night.

As law enforcement nationwide was trying to understand what had occurred over the weekend they learned that the assault on our nation's protectors wasn't over. At about 7:00 am on Monday, January 24, two more of Florida's bravest police officers - Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz and Sergeant Tom Baitinger - were slain in the line of duty, and a Deputy United States Marshal was wounded, while serving warrant in St. Petersburg.

What had started as a promising year, quickly turned into anything but. As of today, January 2011 has the  exact number of deaths as of the same time last year. At this rate, we're pacing to be above 160 deaths for the year and that is completely unacceptable. I am calling on all officers - from rookies to chiefs - to band together in what my good friend Dave Smith has coined the "conspiracy of safety."

I encourage everyone to read Dave's article on law enforcement's newest conspiracy, but I'll take the liberty to paraphrase it here in Dave's own words:

"Not today! ... By making our personal safety an immediate issue it is no longer some abstract, some statistic, or some trite saying; it is a manageable concrete situation we can pay attention to right now!"

As bad as January 2011 has been so far, it has been much, much worse in the past. The deadliest January on record was January 1931 when 22 officers were shot and killed (there were 33 total deaths that month). In fact, the most recent year that made the Deadliest Januaries by Gunfire was 1996 with 11. Let's keep it that way.

Deadliest Januaries by Gunfire:

1931: 22
1921: 21
1973: 20
1930: 19
1922: 18
1970: 18
1928: 17
1932: 17
1924: 16
1908: 13
1915: 13
1920: 13
1935: 13
1938: 13
1972: 13
1927: 12
1933: 12
1975: 12
1981: 12
1986: 12
1987: 12
1909: 11
1919: 11
1947: 11
1947: 11
1971: 11
1989: 11
1991: 11
1996: 11