Texas boy with terminal cancer becomes honorary police officer at five Minnesota departments
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – A Texas child battling terminal cancer wants to spend the days he has left traveling the country. But with each visit to a new state, he's on a specific mission to become a police officer.
Devarjaye "DJ" Daniel, 11, traveled to Minnesota at the end of August with his dad and brothers. He is now an honorary police officer for five Twin Cities metro police departments: Eden Prairie, Edina, Hopkins, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park.
Officers representing each department came to Eden Prairie City Hall for the swearing in on Aug. 24.
"We had a gauntlet of officers coming in on the day of the swearing in," said Eden Prairie Patrol Officer Alli Biermaier. "[DJ] took the time to walk up and shake every single officer's hands, just say 'thank you' or make a joke. It was incredible I think for everyone involved."
Biermaier is the one who got the idea to bring DJ to Minnesota. She saw online that DJ was being sworn in at hundreds of police departments across the country. It's something DJ wants to do since he's battling terminal brain and spinal cancer.
For three days, all five Minnesota police departments took DJ on tours where he got to see firsthand how our officers train.
"For [the Eden Prairie Police Department], we did our drone team, Minnetonka [Police Department] showed them some SWAT stuff and canine," Biermaier said.
WCCO touched base with DJ and his dad, Theodis, who are back home in Houston, Texas right now.
"[The officers] are nice, they're not mean," said DJ, over Zoom.
The father-son duo shared how they stay positive in all that their family is going through.
"It's only a bad situation if you allow it to be," Theodis said.
DJ made a lasting impact on all the officers he met in Minnesota.
"Just keep going. You don't know how long you have to live, so live everyday like it's your last," Biermaier said.
After his visit to Minnesota, DJ has officially been sworn into 792 police departments across the country.
