North Texas fallen officer organization responds to increase in officer deaths, critically injured on duty
PLANO – Kerri Long said she loves and hates her job at the Texas Fallen Officer Foundation. She is the vice president of the Plano-based nonprofit.
Long, a police officer at the Tyler Police Department, loves helping people but dreads the tragedy she encounters.
"I try not to cry when I say this; you hear the stories of the widows and how much they love their husbands," Long said. "You see the kids, you know, they've lost their dad, or they lost their husbands, and it's extremely sad."
The Texas Fallen Officer Foundation provides financial assistance and emotional support to officers critically injured in the line of duty and to families of fallen officers.
Retired Dallas police sergeant Demetrick "Tre" Pennie is the president and executive director. He said the organization helps families navigate the aftermath of their loss.
Pennie, a national advocate for fallen officers, said his nonprofit has provided significantly more assistance than in previous years. He said that compared to 2023, their services to families and officers jumped approximately 26%. The organization attributes the rise to more officer injuries, officer fatalities, and victim awareness of their services.
"Dallas, Arlington, Terrell, Fort Worth, those areas, and then the Houston area," Long said. "You got the Houston Police Department and then the Constable's Office in the area. I would say those are the two main areas that we see that officers get seriously hurt in the line of duty or they're killed in the line of duty."
North Texas has seven members on the Officer Down Memorial Page. It's a national nonprofit that tracks law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty, like the deaths of Ellis County Detention Officer Isaiah Bias and Terrell Police Officer Jacob Candanoza, which were eight days apart.
On Nov. 26, Greenville Police Officer Cooper Dawson was killed. Wise County lost Sheriff's Deputy Allen Love in a crash in early October. Dallas was shaken to its core by the shocking killing of Darron Lee Burks in late August.
A few weeks before that, the Fort Worth Police Department lost Sgt. Billy Randolph. At the beginning of May, the North Richland Hills Police Department had to say farewell to Assistant Police Chief Kevin Linn Palmer following a heart attack.
"It's not just police officers, it's firefighters and EMS. You know, we're one big family. And when something like that happens, we all hurt," Long said.
October began with tragedy for the Irving Fire Department. They lost Joshua Brandes, a fire equipment operator and paramedic, in a motorcycle accident near Springtown. He was off duty.
December started the same way for the Eagle Mountain Fire Department. Dalton Ingram was off duty, too, when he was killed in a car crash.
The Officer Down Memorial Page also reveals Texas leads the nation in officer deaths in 2024—17 law enforcement officers to New York state's 14, followed by nine in Illinois. Long said these stories have news cycle remembrance.
"What about a year from now? What about two years from now when nobody is talking about it?" she said. "We want these widows to know that we love them and that we're here for them."
The Texas Fallen Officer Foundation evolved from Dallas' Fallen Officer Foundation in 2016. The organization said it had donated over $1 million to grieving families and critically injured officers. Donation amounts, which are board-approved, are kept confidential.
Critical injuries and officer deaths are typically fast-traveling news. Long said they usually contact the families through sources or the law enforcement agency. The families are not obligated to take their assistance, she said.
When a family does accept their help, they try to make the support lasting.
The organization gathered 42 families who have taken them up on services to a Dallas Cowboys game. The memory may not replace their loved one, but it does provide a new chance in the days ahead.
Long's husband is a police officer, and she has two sons. Just in case the worst possible day happens, she's already planned her funeral. Her husband and best friend know her wishes.
