FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 22, 2018
MEDIA CONTACT
Jessica Rushing
Fairfax, VA-- In 2017, the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) partnered with the Stanton Foundation in an effort to support their new grant program providing funding to law enforcement agencies who have lost law enforcement canines (K9s) to a line of duty death.
The Stanton Foundation was created by Dr. Frank Stanton, long-time president of CBS, and includes canine welfare as a primary mission. The Foundation has funded several canine programs, including the acquisition and training of K9s for police departments in Massachusetts. On January 1st, 2017, the Foundation expanded its K9 grants to departments that lose a K9 in the line of duty throughout the nation. The Officer Down Memorial Page partnered with the Stanton Foundation in March 2017 to help bring awareness of the availability of this grant program to eligible agencies.
ODMP K9 and the Stanton Foundation are proud to announce that the first grants have been awarded and funds disbursed to two agencies that lost K9s in 2017.
The Crossville Police Department (TN), which lost K9 Cain on August 2nd, 2017, received a grant for a new K9 officer and the funds to outfit that K9 with a bulletproof vest.
Another grant for a K9 bulletproof vest has been awarded to the Crowley Police Department (LA) which lost K9 Roscoe on March 22, 2017, but had already obtained a new K9 before learning of the grant program.
Currently a third grant application is in the approval process for Sunnyvale Police Department (CA), which lost K9 Jax on October 31, 2017.
Losing a K9 officer in the line of duty profoundly affects a handler, a department, and the community in which the K9 worked. ODMP K9 is proud to have partnered with the Stanton Foundation to honor those K9s who have sacrificed their lives to protect their communities and provide assistance to those agencies who have lost a K9.
More information about ODMP and the Stanton Foundation’s Fallen K9 Replacement Grant is available here. Additional details about grant requirements and the application process are available on the Stanton Foundation website.
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About the Officer Down Memorial Page
Founded in 1996, the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) is a nonprofit agency dedicated to honoring the memory of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. The largest law enforcement memorial in the United States, ODMP pays tribute to over 23,000 fallen law enforcement officers in its online memorial and reflection pages. ODMP also honors fallen K9 officers, provides free resources to law enforcement agencies and officers, and works to keep cop killers behind bars through its No Parole program. The ODMP database tracks LODD statistics in the U.S. back to 1791, enabling the law enforcement community to analyze trends and patterns in order to work toward the goal of improving officer safety.
