U.S. Department of Justice Agency Recognizes BOHMF

The Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation (Foundation) is pleased to announce that the Foundation is now featured on the Bureau of Justice Assistance website as a resource for departments and families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. “We are honored to be one of only 4 organizations to be recognized by the BJA as a valuable resource.” President and founder David Blanchard stated.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), a component of the Department of Justice, administers the Public Safety Officers Benefits Program (PSOB) which provides critical benefits to the widow’s and children of Americas Police and Fire organizations that have had an officer killed in the line of duty.

The PSOB Program provides death benefits in the form of a one-time financial payment, currently $315,746, to the eligible survivors of public safety officers whose deaths are the direct and proximate result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty, provides disability benefits for public safety officers who have been permanently and totally disabled by a catastrophic injury sustained in the line of duty, and provides financial assistance for higher education for the spouses and children of federal, state, and local public safety officers who have been permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty.

The Foundation works closely with the BJA in assisting law enforcement agencies in the process of obtaining and reviewing all the necessary documents for the departments and families to apply for the Federal and State benefits. The Foundation also provides leadership assistance in finding answers to questions regarding state benefits, as many states match the federal death benefits, as well as addressing other line of duty death issues. As most line of duty deaths occur within departments that have never had an officer down, they are often unaware that death benefits for the survivors are available. The Foundation assists the BJA by personally contacting the departments within 24 hours when an officer is killed to make them aware of the state and federal benefits.

“It is privilege to be able to pay tribute and offer assistance to the departments and families of America’s fallen heroes who sacrifice their lives at our expense everyday.”

You can view the Bureau of Justice Assistance PSOB program at www.psob.gov, and then click on the Related Resources Tab to find the Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation Link.

(Founded in 2002 as a direct result of the trategy of 9/11/2001, which was witnessed by the founder of the Foundation while in New York City, The Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation is the advocacy group for the widow’s and children of law enforcement officers that are killed in the line of duty. The Foundation is guided by a 34 member Board of Trustees that are all senior, sworn officers from police departments, sheriff’s departments, and state police departments across the country. All Trustees are either on their respective police, city, or county pension boards and/or hold leadership roles within their police organizations and as such possess extensive knowledge of the death benefits available in their state.)

For further information about the Badge of Honor Memorial Foundation and the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, please contact David Blanchard, President & CEO at dhb@bohmf.org.