When a police officer or law enforcement official dies in the line of duty, there is a Minnesota organization that steps in immediately to make sure the family is taken care of, and one such member spoke with FOX 9 News.
Jeff Beahen, Rogers police chief and board member at the Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association, joined FOX 9 News about how the group helps the family and honor the fallen.
Watch the video for more information.
LEMA is able to provide assistance both at the time of death, as well as into the future. Right now, the group is working with the city of Cold Spring as well as the Decker family to arrange the funeral logistics.
The association has 40 volunteer honor guard members from all over the state. It's the only statewide volunteer honor guard in the U.S.
Memorial services can attract public safety workers from across the state, and sometimes from as far away as the East and West coasts. The sheer logistics involved when hundreds or thousands of officers descend on a community to honor the fallen officer can be complicated: parking, food, traffic flow for each rite — the visitation, the funeral, the internment.
The association has evolved to offer services and events for families well beyond the memorial. Crawford will inform surviving spouses of the more than 35 benefit programs for which they could qualify. They include federal and state programs as well as by various professional organizations, associations and corporations. There are also scholarships for children of fallen officers
