Fort Worth PD Volunteers Helping Families, Communities Of Fallen Officers
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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - A group of Fort Worth officers has volunteered to help the families and communities of fallen officers with their time and financial backing.
And it doesn't matter where the officer was killed.
"We are family," said Sgt. Pablo Mendoza who is the treasurer of the organization. "We are police department. We are brothers and sisters and blue."
Sgt. Mendoza is one of 56 Fort Worth officers who volunteers to travel wherever they're needed after a fellow officer is killed. They call themselves the Brotherhood of the Fallen in Fort Worth.
It has been a frighteningly busy time for the volunteers.
"I was just looking at the officer down memorial page," Sgt. Mendoza said. "And, this month alone I think they're been 10 gun fire deaths this month. Those are gunfire. That doesn't include an office that was run over by a vehicle."
Fort Worth's Brotherhood of Fallen Officers is one of just five groups of its kind in the U.S.
Members of the group go to the mourning communities to let them know they are not alone.
"We say look, we're here for you," Sgt. Mendoza said. "We'll support you and support your family and the community, too."
The City of Fort Worth doesn't pay for the brotherhood's deployments, but they do help the officers get to where they're needed.
"If you go to a funeral service, to attend a funeral service you can do your timesheet and take three business days," Sgt. Mendoza said. "It also allows, if it's a bordering state or within the state, to take a city vehicle."
The volunteers say it's a small sacrifice of time and money to help the family of someone who sacrificed their life for the job.
"It's heartwarming to see the support," Sgt. Mendoza said. "You know, the agencies and the officers are there to support the family, the community, the police department that lost an officer that was just trying to do their jobs trying to protect the community. I get chills just talking about it right now."
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