The Road to Hope symbolizes the grief journey law enforcement survivors must make after the loss of their officer. Through the C.O.P.S.’ and its local chapters the National Police Survivors’ Conference held each year during National Police Week and weekend grief retreats, surviving families who often experience debilitating grief that accompanies a sudden, often violent death of their law enforcement officer find hope by knowing they will not have to make their grief journey alone. The foundation of the C.O.P.S. organization is strong peer-support….one survivor reaching out to another survivor…during the difficult times that accompany grief. It is through this peer-support network of one survivor reaching out to another survivor that helps each of us begin the Road to Hope.
The Arizona Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors commits that we will be there to help you and your family as you travel this Road to Hope.
Officer Travis P. Murphy, 29, Phoenix Police Department leaves behind a wife , and two young children, one 2 years old, the other 2 weeks old.
EOW 5/26/2010
Travis was with the agency 4 1/2 years.
Lieutenant Eric Lewis Shuhandler
Gilbert Police Department
Arizona
End of Watch: Thursday, January 28, 2010Biographical Info
Age: 42
Tour of Duty: 16 years
Badge Number: 747Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Shot and wounded
Lieutenant Eric Shuhandler was shot and killed after stopping a vehicle occupied by two
males near the intersection of Val Vista Road and Baseline Road, near the border of Gilbert and Mesa.
Two sergeants from the Mesa Police Department heard the shot and found Lieutenant Shuhandler at the same time as Gilbert police received a 911 call reporting the shooting. He was transported to a local hospital where he died from his wound.
The suspects were located minutes later and a 50-mile high-speed chase began along Highway 60, with several units pursuing the pickup through Phoenix-area communities. The suspects fired several rounds and threw objects from their vehicle at the pursuing officers. The vehicle abruptly stopped in the town of Superior, and both suspects were wounded in an exchange of gunfire with officers from four agencies. Both suspects were arrested at the scene.
Lieutenant Shuhandler had served with the Gilbert Police Department for 16 years. He had previously served with the Manasquan, New Jersey, Police Department for a year and a half and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for two years as a detention officer and two years as a deputy. He is survived by his two daughters, sister, and parents.
Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. provides resources to assist in the rebuilding of the lives of surviving families and affected co-workers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty as determined by Federal criteria. Furthermore, C.O.P.S. provides training to law enforcement agencies on survivor victimization issues and educates the public of the need to support the law enforcement profession and its survivors.
Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) is both proud and honored to announce the organization has just surpassed the $1 million mark in scholarships given to surviving spouses and children of fallen law enforcement officers.
Concerns of Police Survivors believes that higher education for any child should not be put in jeopardy or disrupted because of the unforeseen tragedy that has befallen the family and that educating a surviving spouse only ensures that the family will be better off financially.
Since 1994, when the scholarship program was initiated, C.O.P.S. has given $1,009,110 in scholarships to 296 survivors of fallen officers in 46 states and territories who do not receive tuition-free education as a state death benefit. Additionally, C.O.P.S. provides scholarships to survivors who may no longer meet their state eligibility for assistance. These scholarships are not a loan and no repayment is necessary. C.O.P.S. does not charge for any of the programs or services that it provides to the more than 15,000 surviving family members; the families have already paid a high enough price.
C.O.P.S. scholarships are awarded three times annually for fall semester, spring semester, and summer semester. All applicants must be surviving spouses or children of officers who are determined to be killed in the line of duty according to Federal criteria. Scholarship recipients are determined by an independent Scholarship Committee drawn from the outside community and comprised of persons knowledgeable about education and the law enforcement profession. The National Board of C.O.P.S. determines the amount of funding that will be set aside for scholarships each year and this fiscal year awards totaled $104,288, far above the $80,000 budgeted for this program. The current economic condition caused the number of requests to increase significantly and C.O.P.S. was proud to be able to cover the additional requests for scholarships.
The $1 million mark is a wonderful milestone and C.O.P.S. would like to thank all of our generous donors for making is possible to help so many law enforcement survivors further their education: The BJB Charitable Trust; Vantagepoint Memorial Scholarship Fund of ICMA Retirement Corporation; the G. M. Christensen 1989 Scholarship Trust for Utah Survivors; National Pawnbrokers Association; the Aronson Family Foundation; Northeast Florida Chapter of C.O.P.S.; Reed Elsevier (publishers of Law Officer Magazine); the Buddy Sentner Scholarship Fund; the Michael Sullivan Scholarship Fund and the Barry Hill Memorial Scholarship Fund have all been long-time donors to C.O.P.S.' Scholarship Program.
C.O.P.S. looks forward to continuing its mission of "rebuilding shattered lives" of the surviving family members and affected co-workers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. C.O.P.S. is a national, not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization with 50 chapters throughout the United States. To learn more about C.O.P.S. visit www.nationalcops.org.
Official Dates of National Police Week 2010 are Sunday, May 9 through Saturday, May 15
To help survivors and law enforcement agencies "save the dates” for National Police Week 2010 activities in Washington, DC,here is information on the planned activities.
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