Each year, between 140 and 160 officers are killed in the line of duty and their families and co-workers are left to cope with the tragic loss. Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) provides resources to help them rebuild their shattered lives. There is no membership fee to join C.O.P.S., for the price paid is already too high.
C.O.P.S. was organized in 1984 with 110 members. Today the organization has grown to over 51,000 survivors. The organization was started to assist family members and co-workers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Currently C.O.P.S. has over 50 chapters nationwide that work with survivors at the grass roots level.
The Northern California Chapter of C.O.P.S. began to form in 1994 with Kyle Haynes and Lucy Grijalva. Along with Toni MacDonald and Kathleen Page, Articles of Affiliation for the Northern California Chapter of C.O.P.S. were signed on October 5, 2002 serving California’s 38 northern most counties. Our mission is to assist in rebuilding the lives of surviving families and affected co-workers of law-enforcement officers killed in the line of duty as determined by federal criteria.
At the onset of a line of duty death, our board members are trained to provide a number of services, none more important than survivor peer support and grief counseling. Additionally, C.O.P.S. offers financial support, scholarships, Annual National Conference, National Police Week Assistance, survivor networks and a variety of survivor program retreats. All of which is free of charge to survivors.
C.O.P.S. is trained to assist with the planning and preparing of a line of duty death funeral, preparing departments with post administrative roles including Public Safety Officer’s Benefits (PSOB) and national and state memorial enrollment.
Northern California C.O.P.S. vows to honor fallen officers and support their survivors. We train law enforcement agencies on survivor victimization issues and educate the public of the need to support the law enforcement profession and its the survivors.