Hometown Hero Outdoors
Welcome to the Hometown Hero Outdoors Podcast, where we’re more than just a show—we’re a mission. As a non-profit dedicated to enhancing mental health through life-changing outdoor adventures for military service members, veterans, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and EMS personnel, we bring you stories of resilience, healing, and community.
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Hometown Hero Outdoors
Honoring the Fallen: Inside the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund
The sacred walls of the National Law Enforcement Memorial bear 24,067 names—each representing an officer who made the ultimate sacrifice. Behind this powerful tribute stands an organization dedicated to ensuring these heroes are never forgotten.
We're joined by Bill Alexander, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, who brings over 30 years of law enforcement experience and a profound personal connection to the memorial. "We lost 16 of my peers from the Prince George's County Police Department," Bill shares, "all of whom have their names inscribed on the very sacred memorial which all of us in the profession hold so dear." Alongside him is Aaron Slater, board member and owner of Relentless Defender, whose passion for honoring fallen officers shines through in every word.
The conversation takes us deep into the organization's three pillars: the memorial that honors the fallen, the museum that tells American law enforcement's honorable story, and officer safety initiatives working toward "Destination Zero"—a future with no more names added to the wall. From the heart-stopping candlelight vigil during Police Week to the interactive museum exhibits that put visitors in officers' shoes, we explore how these experiences transform understanding and build bridges between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
What struck me most was learning how the memorial serves as sacred ground for healing. "There is something more than cathartic about seeing that name engraved," Bill explains. "It is absolutely part of the healing process." This isn't just about remembrance—it's about acknowledging sacrifice, processing grief, and celebrating service in ways that change both individuals and our collective understanding of what it means to wear the badge.
Whether you've experienced loss in the line of duty or simply want to understand the true story of American law enforcement, this conversation offers powerful insights into an organization ensuring that those who gave everything are honored for generations to come. Ready to learn more or support their mission? Visit NLEOMF.org or consider experiencing the memorial and museum for yourself on your next trip to Washington DC.
Produced by Phil Ewert Productions
Theme Music: Hero's Journey
Joel Loopez Tunepocket.com
Licensed by: Phil Ewert Productions
hometownherooutdoors.org
In the land of 10,000 lakes, a remarkable movement was born. Welcome to Hometown Hero Outdoors. We are dedicated to honoring our military service members, veterans and first responders by providing them with unforgettable outdoor recreational opportunities. We believe those who have served and sacrificed so much for our country and communities deserve a chance to reclaim their spirit and find healing in the great outdoors. This is Hometown Hero Outdoors. Welcome to the Hometown Hero Outdoors Podcast here is your host, chris Tatro.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, welcome back to this week's Hometown Hero Outdoors podcast. As you all know, this year we did a little bit of revamping on our podcast and we're trying to broaden our horizons who we have on the show? So I'm pretty excited for today's podcast. Today I'm going to introduce you to Bill Alexander and Aaron Slater. They are both representatives of the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. I'm just going to give you a brief synopsis about the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund.
Speaker 2:I'm going to give you a brief synopsis about the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. They are a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Established in 1984, the organization oversees the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington DC, where more than 23,000 fallen officers are commemorated. The National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund also operates the National Law Enforcement Museum, which educates the public on the history and contributes to law enforcement through interactive exhibits and events Alongside memorializing officers. National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund runs programs like Destination Zero, which focus on improving officer safety and wellness by promoting best practices in physical health, mental wellness and community engagement. So thank you, gentlemen, for being here. I'm going to introduce Bill. Bill, you have not been on the show yet. Bill is currently the CEO of the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, brings over 30 years of law enforcement experience. So, bill, instead of going through all that lengthy stuff that I just told you about earlier, would you just want to introduce yourself?
Speaker 3:So thank you very much, chris. Thank you for having me and Slater and giving us the opportunity to connect with your audience. So I'm the current CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Speaker 3:Before that, I spent more than 30 years in law enforcement, starting first with the Air Force as a military police officer and then as a civilian police officer in Prince George's County, which borders Washington DC to the east, where I spent 25 years and, much like so many of my peers, we lost officers. While I served those 25 years, we happened to lose 16 of my peers from the Prince George's County Police Department, all of whom their names are now inscribed on the very sacred memorial which all of us in the profession hold so dear. And, of course, this serves as the backdrop picture for me today, where today, right now, we have 24,067 names those heroes in our profession who have died in the line of duty. So I'm incredibly humbled to be a part of the organization and, you know, absolutely thrilled to be here to maybe tell your audience a little bit about the amazing place and space where I work.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for your service, thanks for the time you did in the military, as well as your public service and law enforcement. That's 30 years. That's quite the career.
Speaker 3:I mean I'm humbled to have been a part of both organizations, both the Air Force and the Prince George County Police Department, and I find that you know I'm not alone. Every single member in law enforcement that I have ever encountered that I'm aware of or not feel some calling, some calling to give back to the communities in which they are serving and the country in which they are lucky enough to call home. So I don't consider myself unique in any degree, and certainly not above any of the literally hundreds of thousands of men and women across the country who every single day, even now, suit up, every single day, knowing that there's a chance that they might make it home, but they do it anyways to go out there to serve their community. So incredibly humbled.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, thank you very much. No, it's great, especially what you're doing with the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. I had the honor of getting to go visit the wall for the first time two years ago and it was absolutely amazing. I wish I had done it sooner. I have lost some partners in the line of duty too, and it definitely does give you a sense of community and the camaraderie with those that you have served with, and then being able to see their name on the wall does give you a sense of healing, and I wish I would have did a lot sooner, to be honest.
Speaker 3:Yeah, every single person I know of that comes here and know someone, particularly the family members, obviously, but certainly the coworkers as well. There is something more than cathartic about standing on again what we view as very sacred ground to see that name or those names engraved. It is absolutely part of the healing process and I'm convinced that the memorial exists in part to facilitate some part of that healing. So it really is quite an amazing place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you guys have done a wonderful job with everything. Aaron, welcome back to the show. Owner of Relentless Defender. Just want to introduce yourself for the listeners again. Let them know who you are and what you've done.
Speaker 4:And again, thank you for having me. Again, I appreciate it and everything that you guys are doing through Hometown Hero Outdoors. Again, I appreciate it and everything that you guys are doing through Hometown Hero Outdoors. I started my law enforcement career in 1997, where I went to the academy and I was ultimately a police officer. My entire career was about 22 years total. I did it right here in Texas, just outside of Houston, and from there I started Relentless Defender, which is an apparel brand, and from there I also have a nonprofit and we do a lot with law enforcement. But ultimately one of my most greatest honors is being able to be a board director for National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. So that's kind of a journey that led me to where we sit here today, honoring police officers that have made the ultimate sacrifice. That's just one of the things that I love about being on this board is being able to represent them.
Speaker 2:No, and I appreciate your time and your service as well and the relationship we've built over the years. If you haven't heard Relentless Defender you're listening to this program then you obviously haven't been following us for very long, but we are very ingrained with Relentless. They do all of our merchandise and plus they support us in a lot of different ways. I had the pleasure of going down to the Relentless Defender Foundation gala recently, where I got to meet Bill briefly and that was a fun. I actually that was a phenomenal night. It was very impressive and being able to be surrounded by a bunch of heroes. So do you want to talk about your foundation super quick and then we can dive more back into the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund.
Speaker 4:I'll talk about a super quick man because I really want to focus on the foundation today. I'll talk about it super quick because I really want to focus on the foundation today. But yeah, what we focus on is in our mission statement is assisting first responders in what we call chaotic life changing situations. So it could be anything from an officer diagnosed with cancer or their child diagnosed with cancer, or an officer that was devastated by a tornado or a hurricane. There's other organizations that do a way better job.
Speaker 4:I think there's nothing better than the National Law Enforcement Moral Fund that memorializes police officers and tells their story. And then there's another organization that I work with and that's Concerns Police Survivors, and they do an amazing job of the healing process for survivors, and then we're kind of in that intermediary that is a void and that is injured officers and really just kind of a catch-all. We also have a scholarship program that we work with to get police officers. In many states like ours, you have to pay to go to the academy, and I think that there's a lot of police officers that have a lot of potential that may not be able to afford to go to the academy. We take care of that. And then one last thing we now also run Humanizing the Badge. So Humanizing the Badge is a project under us now where we're going to start expanding that and help to bring and build bridges and community policing a little bit better throughout the nation.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. One of the main reasons I did bring those up is because how intertwined all of these different organizations can be for support for our law enforcement officers Between the foundation, the Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, there's just a whole bunch of different things going on in the country and I think it's fantastic and you do a very good job, both of you with being able to work with other people, make the connections and then also share resources with others in order to get the word out and how to assist our law enforcement officers. So I appreciate you both and Slater, thank you for being able to work with us and help me with connections and supporting us. So thank you.
Speaker 4:Well, thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4:And can I add to that too?
Speaker 4:Yeah, one of the things that I love about Bill and National Law Enforcement Moral Fund and the people that we work with is one of the things that I've found with nonprofits is you can tell a nonprofit that is sincere about their mission if their mission is always the mission first and ultimately. Whenever they say that their mission is to do X, y and Z for law enforcement, but then they turn and make it about them and their organization instead of having a synergy with all these other organizations. That may even be a competitive aspect to raise funds, but if you keep the mission in mind and say, no, this is what we're doing and we're going after the idea of making sure that law enforcement is represented and taken care of through the mission that we have at hand, that, I think, is what's important, and that's why I think it's cool to have a podcast like this where you can take people that run different organizations and be willing to feature that, because that's exactly what National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund does by far, I can tell you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no very good points. So overall, let's talk about the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. You know, let's go back to the history of things. How did the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund begin? How did it get started?
Speaker 3:Well it starts. Actually, the idea of some part of the memorial starts in the late 70s. Actually A couple legislators, backed by law enforcement certainly the seed of law enforcement had thoughts to get a bill passed which would allow for the collection of monies and then ultimately the designing and building of a memorial. They couldn't gain momentum in the late 70s but in the early 80s it did gain momentum and Senator Pell and Congressman Biagi finally got the momentum they needed to get what was then known as the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund bill through Congress and basically that bill allowed for individuals across the country, mostly related to or within law enforcement, to donate money to this new, brand new organization which then allowed for the designing and ultimately building what we now know as the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial right here in Washington DC. So it took a number of years to get that memorial designed and built but it was dedicated in 1991.
Speaker 3:That initial batch of names added to the wall was just over 12,000 names. At the time they thought they had captured most, if not all, of the historical deaths which had occurred in the United States across the broad stretch of US history. Unfortunately, over time we realized they did not capture all those names Every single year we add what we call historical deaths. But they had just over 12,000 names and that left room for about an additional 12,000 names and there, in 1991, they thought that they were going to have enough space. Those 12,000 empty spots would cover the memorial for 100 years. Just this past year, in the spring of 2024, we added what will now be the last name to what was the original memorial walls. So we have blown through those early estimates.
Speaker 3:In 2021, the Memorial Fund completed an expansion which is 18 inches of granite on top of what was the original memorial walls. It looks very seamless. If you go there now in person, you can't even tell that it wasn't a part of the original memorial and that expansion now gives us an additional amount of space for approximately 12,000 additional names Sitting here now. I wish I could tell you how much time that will buy us. But every single year, as I know you know, chris, and certainly Slater does as well we continue to add, historically, hundreds of names to, again, our very sacred wall, that there is a cost to maintaining and preserving our democracy, and that cost, of course, as I know both of you know is measured every single year and hundreds of lives. So I don't know when the expansion will fill up, but it certainly will and it will not take 100 years. I can assure you that. So that was the origination of the Memorial Fund. So that was the origination of the Memorial Fund.
Speaker 3:Of course, our organization has grown over time, in part through a world-class museum which was built and then ultimately opened in 2018. It really is, you know. Of course, I know I'm biased, but it really is an amazing place, just an absolutely amazing place to help tell the story of American law enforcement, perhaps through a lens, perhaps in a way that many people have not seen before. It tells what I believe is the honorable story of law enforcement, how law enforcement has been and continues to be just an overwhelming force for good for our community, for our country. And then we have a third pillar which we refer to internally I'm sorry, no, you're good, you're fine.
Speaker 3:Internally is officer safety and wellness. It's where we try to, in part, take some of the data related to those line of duty deaths, which we do track every single year, and really does give us a window into the how, where, why men and women in uniform are facing too many fatal outcomes. So, in part, taking some of that data, but also us on our own, thinking about talking about crafting, creating, editing and amending programs and best practices and trying to push those out in a meaningful way across the law enforcement community to make it safer for the men and women who are doing the job and, by extension, make it safer for members of the public that they are sworn to protect. So, at a very high level, that is the Memorial Fund honoring the fallen, telling the story of American law enforcement through the museum and making it safer for men and women who are still doing the job today no-transcript.
Speaker 3:Destination Zero is sort of one of the sub programs we have under the officer safety and wellness umbrella.
Speaker 3:So for those who don't know, Destination Zero, the idea is that one year we would get to zero deaths, zero new names being added to the wall, and that is Destination Zero.
Speaker 3:Zero deaths, zero new names being added to the wall, and that is destination zero. So every single year, the officer safety and wellness team, they solicit programs and best practices from across the country. They ask police departments to send in what they believe is something new, something innovative, something perhaps the profession hasn't thought of before, or expanding on something that has been brought before and really changing the game in terms of officer safety. And we select five of those programs every single year to be innovative, to be new, and we really push those out in a big, big way. It's sponsored by Verizon. We couldn't do it without the support of Verizon but those programs inevitably matriculate out to the rest of the country and we hope that police departments and agencies across the country try to mirror those programs or perhaps take them and make them even better. But I'm convinced every single year those destination awards and the programs that they represent are saving lives.
Speaker 2:It's interesting. I've learned something today. That's awesome. That's a very good initiative. You know and I've been thinking too heavily about the last couple years that I have been out to police week, you know, and we have covered a couple podcast episodes about police week itself and, um, it's kind of nice to have you both here because you guys can specifically speak to the inner workings with police week and you know I've explained in depth what police week is. But you guys have a different uh purview for the whole police week. Um, with honoring our fallen and adding the new names. Do either.
Speaker 4:We want to speak to about what that looks like for that week well, I'll speak a little bit on it, but by far the responsibility of police week falls greater on bill than any other human being on this planet. So, ultimately, police Week is it has a lot of cogs involved in it in order for it to, in order for it to operate. And again, there's a synergy that happens during Police Week with other organizations as well, and I've already named two of them, being, of course, national Law Enforcement Memorial Fund and Concerns Police Survivors. But then FOP also has a COG in there that they're a part of that as well, and those are really the three main COGs, if I'm correct in saying that, bill, am I right in saying that Absolutely? And then, of course, there's other organizations that are heavily involved in smaller pieces of it, because we've got all the honor guard is there from agencies all across the nation and they help represent. There's agencies from all over the nation that come. It really is, and the best way I could describe it and I've done this for many, many years now, I've been a part of Police Week for many, many years If you haven't been to Police Week, if you haven't been to Police Week, even if you don't have a loved one or partner or a family member that is on the wall participating in it by itself will give you an entire different perspective of law enforcement.
Speaker 4:I've brought many people up when we come and there's people that have never lost an officer. There's people that are civilians that I've brought with us and they leave with an entire different understanding of police officers, the magnitude of what police officers do every single day, and I would highly encourage, especially if you're a police officer or police officer family, to go and understand and be a part of the entire week. As far as what it takes, I'll let Bill describe that because with Bill's experience, he was the memorial, he was the executive director of the Memorial Wall, who was also burdened with the responsibility of actually doing the candlelight ceremony and now being the CEO. Ultimately he's still in charge of the candlelight ceremony, but that is we're talking about tens of thousands of people showing up and the logistics of it I can imagine is not easy, but I'll let Bill speak on that.
Speaker 3:Well, police Week, you know, for us the Memorial Fund and the other tentpole organizations which Slater referenced, notably FOP and Concerns of Police Survivors, it's the Super Bowl event for us, which goes over the course of multiple days. It really kicks off for us on plus or minus May 11th with a canine memorial service. Every May 12th the Police Unity Tour rides in to honor the men and women most recently fallen in the line of duty and they raise money specifically for the memorial fund.
Speaker 2:That's by bike, that's not just a motorcycle, that's on bicycles yes bicycles.
Speaker 3:They ride hundreds of miles all up and down the East Coast and they converge here at the Memorial every May 12th. And for anyone who has not been to Police Week or seen Police Unitary Tour ride in, I promise you there are a few experiences where you can feel such emotion as those men and women are riding in, having really suffered and gone through a lot of pain to ride those miles. It really is quite amazing. So that's May 12th, may 13th. Every May 13th is our candlelight vigil, the Memorial Fund's candlelight vigil. It's where we read aloud the names of every single man or woman who has most recently been added to the memorial. So that certainly captures the previous calendar year line of duty deaths, but it also incorporates again those historical deaths which I referenced before, deaths which I referenced before. Then May 14th is the Concerns of Police Survivors Gala, and then May 15th is the Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Service, historically held at the Capitol. So those are sort of the big tentpole events. But that barely scratches the surface. I mean, there is so much going on in Washington DC for Police Week, not least of which would be Tent City, the networking, the congregation, the fellowship of police officers from not just around the country but around the world. I mean, every single year I see police officers from Germany and London and Austria and it just runs the gamut that our National Police Week has gone beyond just the borders of the United States of America. It really does encompass and welcome members of all stripes of law enforcement from around the world to come and, we hope, pause with us, pause momentarily for those four or five days to again recognize the terrible cost of protecting our democracy and also allowing the profession to again, perhaps for a moment, be penned in the consciousness of this nation, to remind the men and women out there that in part we are able to live free lives. A big reason why is because the men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line for us.
Speaker 3:Slater is absolutely right If you have not been to a police week before, I cannot put into words the emotion, the feelings, the catharsis, the healing. I cannot put into words the emotion, the feelings, the catharsis, the healing, the absolute camaraderie. There is something very, very unique to be in Washington DC during a police week that is almost indescribable. You cannot put into words the feelings that happen here and the healing that happens here and really in a big way, the recognition of law enforcement and the job that the men and women are out there doing. If you have not been to a police week I cannot express in terms strong enough. You should come at least once in your life to see what happens here every single year.
Speaker 2:I echo that very much so it's very eye-opening and healing, no-transcript temp city. But I would go to as many events as I could, but uh, the candlelight vigil is just absolutely breathtaking and being able to uh see everyone that comes together in their uniforms and be able to hold I've, just when they light those candles and how much it lights up that entire national mall, is just absolutely incredible. Do you want to speak specifically more about the candlelight vigil and what that that night looks like?
Speaker 3:Sure, well, well, slater was very kind to me a few minutes ago and putting together the candlelight vigil, putting all of the literally thousands of moving parts whether it's the US Park Police who assist, it's Metropolitan Police Department who acts as motors for the buses, concerns of police survivors, getting those survivors on the buses and getting them there the weeks in advance of direct preparation and literally months in advance of thinking about and constructing that event, it is an absolute ton of work and it's work that we live to do. I mean, it's work that's directly impacting and honoring those very same men and women who we are hoping to memorialize for the nation. But the candlelight vigil, wow, it is quite a bit to put on and we hope that from the outside, looking in, it appears seamless, but I can promise you, under the covers there, it is quite an adventure to put that event on. And of course, slater is not wrong.
Speaker 3:I mean, literally every single year, tens of thousands of people come to our candlelight vigil, not just in law enforcement, not just survivors, but again citizens from around the country and even folks from around the world, to see that sea of candles light up. After we've read those names, to hear the songs being sung by a few recording artists, to see the surviving family members watch and listen as they hear the name of their loved one read aloud. I mean there's no way I could put into words the emotion, the strongest emotion, that is going through the air at that candlelight vigil. Again and of course, again I'm biased I think that the candlelight vigil is the tentpole event for all of Police Week. So for anyone listening, if you come to Police Week, please do yourself a service, do your country a service. Come be a part of the candlelight vigil. Witness for yourself the really, really powerful emotion that occurs every single year there as we honor our heroes.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I agree, yeah, it's. I brought my wife both years and just the emotions that are flowing when you leave, you know, and having the surround and the amount of people that you actually run into, that you know, um, that are there. You think that the world is really big, right, but actually in reality it's super small and the different people that you meet there, uh, like you're talking about the networking piece that's, there's just a lot of people there that you end up um, either having some type of uh, a connection with in some realm throughout your law enforcement career, or even if you're not, where you can connect with them. There's several times where I actually bumped into law enforcement officers that have been on our trips, that are there for HHO and unfortunately, they're there for not the reasons we want, but they are there for the healing piece of it and being able to experience that with them is very moving. So, also, I want to talk about the museum a little bit more. You touched on a little bit earlier.
Speaker 3:You said it was built in 2018 it was built in the years before that, but it opened in the fall of 2018. Okay, it opened right before covid hit. So, uh, it's had a little bit of a rocky beginning here, but, yes, opened in 2018 and you both obviously had a part of the curation of that museum. That happened before my time, but I do believe that Aaron was on the board when the museum opened.
Speaker 4:I was not. I started on the board soon after the museum was opened. A lot of the curation had already happened for the museum and I do believe that we're still doing curation now. Am I correct in saying that? Sure, it's been?
Speaker 3:pretty steady here for the last year, but we do try to bring in some new exhibits periodically, or new, larger exhibits, like right now. Just last month we opened what we're calling Officers as Artists, where we solicited the nation. We asked law enforcement officers of all stripes hey, we know that you're more than just police officers, many of you are also artists in your own right. Send us some artwork. And we got just an amazing response and right now there are about 60 pieces of artwork in what we call the DuPont Gallery of every stripe. Some of it's law enforcement related, but much of it is not to really showcase that men and women in uniform are more than just police officers. It really does an amazing job of humanizing the men and women in uniform, but that's just a small part of the museum.
Speaker 3:Slater, you're absolutely right, we do curate and change the museum, but one of the things I would say is that the museum as it exists today exists mostly to tell that honorable story of law enforcement that I referenced before. What visitors, when they come here, will not see? They will not see a civil rights violation exhibit. They will not see a George Floyd exhibit. They will not see exhibits highlighting where police officers maybe fell short or faced a challenge that they didn't overcome at the time, and it's not that there's not room in the conversation to have about that in the broader law enforcement sphere, but I might argue that there are lots of places where you can go to learn about the potential failings of law enforcement.
Speaker 3:In fact, I might argue you can look almost everywhere and someone is voicing some concern about law enforcement, often unjustifiably, often in an unfair way. But the museum as it exists today exists to tell that honorable story of law enforcement and in my mind there should be a place in this great country that highlights the good, the overwhelming good, that law enforcement has been and continues to be. And that is this museum. Every single exhibit exists to tell some portion, some chapter, some honorable part of the men and women who have served now for 250 years making their communities in this country safer and protecting that democracy. So that is the museum to tell that story of American law enforcement in a way that highlights, exemplifies and honors the profession.
Speaker 2:And it's an absolutely beautiful building too, just the way it's set up and designed when you walk in and you go downstairs and you get the sub-levels going. And one of the things that stood out to me the most and I learned about a lot this scenario in my training is the game warden truck that's there. You know, that specific scenario was part of my training when I was in the academy. I was watching the video of that officer's involved shooting, and to have it there and see it in person really puts a lot of pieces together.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're talking about that game warden truck. So as soon as you walk in, one of the first things you see is a big helicopter. It's a prior US Park Police helicopter. And then you walk down the mezzanine just a little bit further and up on a raised platform is this truck where an officer was the target of basically an ambush, and you can see dozens of rounds having hit the car and the windshield and you just you know, particularly as a prior law enforcement officer your heart just goes out to whoever happened to be inside that truck. Absolutely both heartbreaking, but also highlighting the very real dangers that men and women in uniform face, both in the past and, unfortunately, increasingly, I might argue even through to today.
Speaker 2:There's some exhibits in there that do specifically show some of the undercover operations that some officers have done in the past, as well as the 9-11 area. There's a wall there regarding officers that have been lost in the last year. There's just so many things to look at and to take in, but it's absolutely well done and I give you guys a round of applause for how well it is done. I got to bring some other people who are non-law enforcement with our organization there and just absolutely took their breath away, I think, and they're also former military. So I think it really helped them open their eyes to what kind of camaraderie there is, our brotherhood or sisterhood, amongst the people in these professions by being able to attend Police Week and check out the museum and see all the history there. So you guys have done an absolutely phenomenal job.
Speaker 4:Well, and I'll also add that if you've never been to the museum and we've got a lot of interactive pieces too, a lot of simulator aspects, so so, um, you know, bringing family members, letting them go through some of that, the interaction, the, the shoot don't shoot type stuff, the driving simulator, the, all the different simulation type things that they can partake in. To me, me, that's an understanding of learning as well. So if your husband, your wife, whoever it is, that says I don't want to go to a museum, sell it to that understanding, because once they're through the door, I can tell you right now it's a museum that will open your eyes to the understanding of behind the scenes of law enforcement, of behind the scenes of law enforcement, and it allows them to see it through in many ways, like many of the other museums that are of quality. See it and feel it and you leave with a different perspective of law enforcement.
Speaker 3:So it does a very, very good job of doing that. 360 or 360 degrees no, you're 100% right, slater. I mean the vast majority of the exhibits are to some degree interactive. And, of course, the use of force simulator that many officers will likely recall as being called originally shoot, don't shoot, but it's morphed into sort of a decision simulator.
Speaker 3:That is an incredibly powerful piece of technology for people who have no law enforcement experience to see just briefly, very momentarily, how fast things happen, how your tunnel, your vision can narrow on certain things, how your audio senses sometimes get blocked. I mean it's just an amazing piece of technology to give people a real sense of how fast things happen and how much pressure you can be under, even in this completely benign sort of training environment. And the driving simulator does the same thing. We have a bunch of exhibits on, say, crime scene collection, blood spatter, I mean all of the things that police officers do every single day. You can likely do yourself real, for real, in person, right there in the museum. And again, I might argue, I think it does just an amazing job of helping to tell that story of our profession and showcasing what men and women are doing every single day to protect us.
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Speaker 2:No, it's absolutely. You guys are hitting it all in the head. No, I love it. I'm glad you guys are here and talk about this stuff.
Speaker 4:Well, and Chris and for listeners out there and I'll speak on this, but I'll let Bill finish it but one of the things about the museum as well is we do group rentals.
Speaker 4:You can rent out aspects of the museum. So if you have a company party, you want to have a company event, you have a POA event, you have an agency event. Out of a company event, you have a POA event, you have an agency event, you can contact the museum and ask about renting out the museum for your event, and that is something that we'd really like to increase as far as rental sales and those types of things, because, again, you'll get people through the door that have maybe never even heard of the museum or even knew the museum, but because they're part of that group event, that brings a lot more exposure as well, and then to have the event there, it is truly an amazing place as far as what it looks like, the appearance of it and the value that you're going to get out of it. So that's kind of a sales pitch, I'm saying but if you have an event, rent the museum out for your event. It is an amazing place.
Speaker 2:I did not know that. That's good information to know, and I wanted to ask, too, about some other initiatives that the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund has. Are there any other types of initiatives that you guys are engaged in that we can share?
Speaker 3:Well, those are the big tenfold things thinking about honoring those who have fallen in the line of duty through the memorial, telling that story of American law enforcement, through the museum and officer safety and wellness, where we do a number of initiatives. One of them is Destination Zero, which we talked a little bit about before. We also have a couple of grants under NHTSA, so the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, where we again look at part of that data. Where are men and women in uniform dying in traffic-related incidents and how can we package together information or perhaps programs that again make it safer for men and women out on the roadways? Earlier this year we did a white paper that talked about stop sticks, those devices where officers, if they have the time and space and can deploy correctly, can throw a device into the roadway which they hope will cause the fleeing vehicle to be stopped. But those over time have shown to be very, very dangerous for the officers that are actually deploying them. Unfortunately, almost every single year we lose one or more person in uniform because they've been struck by the car they're trying to stop. So that would be one example.
Speaker 3:We also work with SafeLeo, where we think about and talk about and participate in classes that try to educate not just rank and file members but particularly the supervisors, the commanders, the men and women who are leading these organizations, what to look out for. What are the signs that one of your officers might be in trouble in terms of mental stress and that mental health aspect? How can we keep the men and women who are doing this job safe, not just physically but also mentally? Because, chris, as I suspect you know, and certainly the work you're doing with Hometown Heroes is trying to prevent, this very thing is almost every single year, more men and women in public safety and law enforcement specifically die by suicide than they are feloniously killed. So it's a big problem for our profession and it's part of our mission to try to address that and try to reduce those deaths.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's far too many of those happening. I know we've had several here in our state and unfortunately hear about them every day. Well, not every day, but unfortunately it's just happening too often, you know, and it's a very difficult part of the position. I know like one of our local law enforcement agencies here just started using a new device that actually deploys from the front of a squad and puts a GPS in the back of the vehicle and that's, I'm told, it's not cheap though, but it's cheap Cheap. Who cares? If it helps get people home safe and they're able to identify the issue later, let's do it. No, thank you, gentlemen, for being here. So I do have a couple couple um. Well, let me start here. Actually, is there anything else that you guys would like to add for the podcast um about the national law enforcement memorial fund?
Speaker 4:the only thing. The only other thing I I would add is um, there's also a video that uh that when you're in the museum that I encourage everybody to go watch and it's kind of a behind the scenes. It tells a lot of different stories about different police officers throughout the nation and it's very short. So I think it's only about 20, 25 minutes long, but ultimately it is very, very impactful. So when you're there, take that moment to do it, and I know a lot of you guys that may be watching this, go to Washington DC and I know that there's a lot of museums to go visit and those types of things, but if you're watching this podcast, that means you have an interest in law enforcement, most likely to begin with. So when you go to DC, take the moment and put that on your schedule to go visit the museum, check the schedule, go visit it and make that as one of your priorities to go do with everything else that there is to do in DC.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say, no matter what you're planning for your trip length tack, two more days onto it, there's just so much to go and see and take in absolutely that. That was a part of my next question too, and but I'll ask that after bill, do you have anything else you want to add about the national law enforcement memorial fund?
Speaker 3:well, piggybacking slightly on slater's comment, that movie is the title of. It is called service and sacrifice and it just does an absolutely amazing job of humanizing the men and women who are doing the job and I promise you even people in uniform to watch it. I suspect to one degree you will come away slightly emotional. But also, particularly for people in your lives who are not necessarily educated to the degree you might be in terms of law enforcement, I promise they will come away feeling something different. And right now it's actually available to stream. It's on Hulu and a couple of other platforms. So look for the title Service and Sacrifice. Take 25 minutes and please go watch that film. It really is impactful.
Speaker 3:Beyond that, I would say to your audience we, the Memorial Fund, exist and have existed since 1984 entirely on donations. There is no federal, state, local government money invested in this memorial. It's maintained, the new names are engraved, the museum telling those stories, our officer safety and wellness programs are all funded mostly by people in and associated with law enforcement who think that our mission is worthwhile. The only way we're able to do that work, the only way we're able to do that work, the only way we're able to do that candlelight vigil is with people who have very generously donated to us. And now I'm going to pause here, and he is too humble to say it, but the reality is that one, aaron Slater, and his beautiful wife, danny, are the very kind of people who put their money where their mouth is Every single year. I mean, I'm blown away, I'm staggered by the level of service and sacrifice and and his generosity, both he and Danny, in terms of their, not just their time, not just willing to help lead this organization and come up with new ideas, but they actually donate so incredibly generously, again, not just to us, but concerns of police survivors and other organizations and even his own foundation.
Speaker 3:But we could not exist, we could not exist without the generosity of men and women in uniform all across the country, and mostly their family members, helping to support what it is we're doing. And so, for those who have given, I just want to very, in a very, very heartfelt, genuine way, say thank you. Thank you for helping us honor our heroes and tell their stories. And for those who are not otherwise aware of us, I ask look, there's lots of great charities out there and I don't want you to snub some other charity for us. But if you got a few spare bucks and you think this mission is worthwhile, of course I would argue it is. But if you think our mission is worthwhile in terms of honoring and remembering our heroes and you have a few spare bucks, please consider donating to the Memorial Fund.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah, Thank you for saying that. I was going to ask you is there one of the best ways for people to go ahead and do that?
Speaker 3:The easiest way is to just go to our website, which is NLEOMForg. That stands for National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, nlomforg, and there's a big red donate right on the top right. Of course we'll take the donation any other way. You want to send me paypal or venmo or evena regular old check in the us mail. Any way you would like to send us money, we will happily accept it.
Speaker 2:But the easiest way is online, right through that donate button yes, and if you, like you said, if you guys have any spare change or anything you want to give over there, um, please do so. I have a few partners on that wall myself, you know, and I will tell you that, the healing that I received from that and being able to experience everything that they've put together and curated, helps, and I'll add to that as well.
Speaker 4:One of the things about the wall that is unique and compared to a lot of the other memorials period in Washington DC is it's one of the only memorials in the nation that continues to grow.
Speaker 4:You take the Vietnam wall, you take a lot of these other memorials and the names are set. This wall continues to grow and it continues to be costly to memorialize police officers. That's the reality of things. With that being said, there is, you know, a burden that the memorial takes on every single year to make sure that that we do it right and we honor the men and women that have sacrificed everything you know to be on that wall and do it right for them, so that that, that that that does get costly, guys, and that's the reason why we sit here and say you know, it's because of you guys that are invested in making sure that the officers memorialized right, that we continue to exist. So, again, thank you, and thank you, bill, for for being so kind to to to thank you and thank you, bill, for for being so kind to mention us. But, again, this has been what we do for a very long time and, as you know, we're survivors as well, so we take a very special interest to it.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, I do have one more question Is there an ambassador program?
Speaker 3:Yes, oh, I do have one more question. Is there an ambassador program? There is. It's under our officer safety and wellness umbrella. So what? Who? The person leading that right now? His name is Matt Garcia and it's where we it just started two years ago under one of our corporate partners, mission Square. They're funding it and we have tried to branch out to create network connections with police officers all across the country and try to have those men and women act as our ambassadors, to to some degree, act as a conduit.
Speaker 3:If a local agency were to have a line of duty death in terms of what is the process? What information does the memorial fund need? How can I facilitate adding a local hero's name to the memorial wall? So that's part of it but also acting sort of as a brand ambassador for us to go out there and help to tell our story and to remind people exactly what it is we're talking about, that this memorial fund exists only by virtue of the people who are willing to contribute and help support it, and we hope those ambassadors are out there representing us and helping to spread this exact message that you are helping spread now, chris. So that ambassador program, if anyone is interested.
Speaker 3:you need to be a current or retired law enforcement officer, but if you have an interest in helping to tell our story, we would love to hear from you.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Yeah, aaron told me about that program about a year and a half ago and I'm still trying to think I might just apply and not tell my wife and see how that goes, I guess. But I really do want to help out with that. I think it's very important, especially with how many officers we lost here and continue to lose, and hopefully that goes down or goes away completely. But in reality it's needed and I appreciate you having that program put together plus everything else that you guys do so for fun. At the very end here I have a question for you both about DC. Dc is a very diverse area. A lot of different things happening there. What are the top two places that each of you would go to get food?
Speaker 4:Well, if it's after 7 o'clock at night there's nothing to go get. There's very few restaurants to go uh to, uh uh at night for a dc. Um, I I honestly like that and bill, am I wrong? Is the chop? Is shop house still open?
Speaker 3:I was gonna say one of my favorites was the chop house and it closed. It closed earlier in uh 2024, just uh five or six months ago, and I was devastated when it closed.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I heard that. But other than that, the Chophouse was, to me, the best place to go eat. During Police Week it's a different environment, but during Police Week I would probably go to Dubliner.
Speaker 2:They are very good.
Speaker 4:Well, it's also where all the police officers go. Yes, yes, dubliner, and they are very good.
Speaker 2:It's also where all the police officers are.
Speaker 4:Dubliner and Kelly's.
Speaker 5:Is.
Speaker 2:Kelly's still open.
Speaker 4:They've been trying to sell it for years, but yes, it's still open.
Speaker 3:Kelly's is still open, and another hot spot I would recommend is the Irish Channel, which is not too far from the memorial itself. A very large police contingent there and they play a ton of Irish music and a great spot to go. But if you're looking for a restaurant recommendation and of course the Chop House is not one now Carmine's family style Italian food is really good and it's very close to the memorial you can walk.
Speaker 4:He's absolutely right on that. It's great food. So, yes, I would agree, and I love Italian food and that one does it right.
Speaker 2:I always like hitting up the old Abbott. I thought they had good food. It's a little spendy but it's also right across from the White House and I think it's the oldest pub in DC. I think it was one of the first ones, but it's moved a couple times. But yeah, the Irish Channel is absolutely fantastic. But I have not gone to the other place yet, but I know it was kind of a random. But sometimes I like asking those things in this podcast and people when they're out there, they get to go experience that as well.
Speaker 4:But no, when it goes to, when it comes to police week, you've got to know where to go eat.
Speaker 5:That's scary. 66% of Americans would struggle to pay for a thousand dollar emergency. We don't. This one's scary. 66% of Americans would struggle to pay for a thousand dollar emergency. We don't keep any money in the savings accounts, right? The scary part about that is is that eight out of 10 of us watching this right now are going to experience a $5,000 whoopsie every 10 years. Something's going to happen. Kids are going to break a leg and there's going to be out-of-pocket max medical that year. Right, there's going to be a hellstorm or a fire or some kind of a natural disaster that causes us to have to write a big old check for our deductible for the roof replacement or the car. Right, something's going to happen. I want you to think back to the last time you had a financial emergency. Was it the event that caused the stress, or was it trying to figure out how to pay for the event that caused the stress?
Speaker 2:Well, gentlemen, I appreciate you Do either of you. Have any other closing things you'd like to add?
Speaker 4:I don't. I'd just like to say thank you, chris, for having us on and exposing the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund as much as possible Again with Police Week, and to Bill, I know how much work you and your team puts in and I will tell you that the team that runs the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund is a phenomenal team. I know them all personally. I know Bill very, very well. His leadership does a great job of leading the National Law Enforcement Moral Fund through all the events, through the struggles like any other nonprofit has the struggles of funding and the struggles of the day-to-days. But he does an amazing job and so not only am I blessed being a board member to have someone like him being the executive director, but all of law enforcement is blessed to have Bill as a, as a leader for the moralizing of police officers and and taking care of their families when they come up and and and they grieve. So thank you.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's beyond kind. I'm blown away. Thank you very much, aaron. But you know I'm humbled to be here. I really am humbled to play even a small part in terms of this organization and honoring our collective heroes.
Speaker 3:And if anyone out there wants more information or thinks of a question after they hear this, I'd love to correspond with anyone who has a question. My email address is bealexander at NLEOMForg. That's B as in boy, alexander at NLEOMForg. Or if you want to come to DC and you want to have me walk around, I'd love to show you the Memorial and Museum if you're otherwise in town. And besides that, chris, I'm just incredibly appreciative, much like Slater. Thank you very much, first for the hometown heroes outdoors and doing what it is you're doing in terms of bolstering mental health across the public, safety and military communities. Thank you for that. But equally, thank you for allowing us to use your platform here today to help spread our message, to talk about the Memorial Fund, what it is we're doing, and give us the opportunity to connect with folks who might not have heard of us before. It really means a lot to everyone in the profession to help spread this message. So thank you very much.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, yeah, no. Thank you, gentlemen, for both being here. I really appreciate you both. You guys are both doing phenomenal work in the communities and giving back to those who deserve it Our professions. It's a difficult job, no matter what you know. Even when politics are good and politics are bad, it's always a difficult job and people have tough decisions to make and split second decisions, and it's good to know that there are people out there like the both of you that are able to support everyone and be able to give back and help with the legacy of people who have sacrificed so much. So thank you, thank you, thank you. So, with that, thank you, listeners, for tuning into the Hometown Hero Outdoors podcast.
Speaker 2:I just want to reemphasize that you know with mental health, that there are different avenues of ways for you to be able to reach out and do things. Our field staff at Hometown Hero Outdoors have training and applied suicide intervention skills training, which is also known as ASIST. If you're finding yourself in a dark time where you need to reach out, please reach out. People will listen. If you're not comfortable with us, there are many other organizations out there that are there to help you, or even 988 as a phone call or a text message that you can do for the crisis line. We're not mental health professionals, by any means, but we will be here as a peer and we will help you find the help that you need. So please reach out. There are options. So with that, we will listen. Excuse me, we will see you on the next Hometown Hero Outdoors podcast.
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