Survivorship. It’s what Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) is all about. The need for such an organization is strong because many officers are killed in the line of duty or succumb later to injuries or side effects sustained while doing their job. When officers die, they leave behind a slew of survivors including family and colleagues. Support from COPS for survivors is immediate and long term.

“COPS provides lifetime support for survivors. They take care of spouses, parents, siblings, adult children, children and coworkers. Their motto is rebuilding shattered lives. They help people as they find their new normal,” said Captain Pat Evans of the Draper Police Department. 

The Fallen Officer Memorial 5K held in Draper every September raises funds for Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) and the lifelong assistance they provide for families. (Mimi Darley Dutton/City Journals)

Two weeks after Tremonton-Garland Officer Eric Estrada and Sgt. Lee Sorensen were killed responding to a domestic disturbance call, COPS held its previously-scheduled Fallen Officer Memorial Run, a 5K fundraiser in Draper. Widows, families, colleagues and friends of fallen officers were joined by people from all over the state who came to support them. 

The ambience for the memorial run was upbeat. Fun music and cheers of support for the runners filled the air. Photos of fallen Utah officers lined a fence at the start of the run to remind people why they were there. A few people ran the entire 5K course carrying large police flags. Every year, the race honors five fallen officers, one for each kilometer. This year’s honorees were Trooper Joseph Brumett, Lt. Mark “Mont” Mecham, Trooper Dennis Lund, Deputy Michael Welcker and Sgt. Billy Hooser who died last May when he was struck by a suspect fleeing a traffic stop. His wife, Kinda, and family were at the run, including his daughter who married shortly after his death, and her baby, a grandchild Hooser never got to meet. 

Bill Richardson, son in law of honoree Mecham, was at this year’s run with Mecham’s wife and family. “You can never fill the hole, but everything like this puts a little more skin on that scar tissue and makes it a little better for us, the survivors,” Richardson said. 

The 5K was started as a Super Hero run by the family of Draper’s own Sgt. Derek Johnson. Twelve years ago on Sept. 1, Johnson was making the final stop of his shift when he approached a car that appeared to be broken down on Fort Street. He was ambushed and killed. He left behind his wife Shante, young son Bensen, parents, siblings, extended family, colleagues and friends. 

“We first did this two months after Derek died and we’ve done it annually since. It really means a lot to me,” Shante Johnson said. She currently serves as President of the Utah chapter of COPS. Evans serves on the nonprofit’s board. 

The mission of COPS is multifaceted. They respond immediately after a tragedy by sending police widows and colleagues who’ve experienced loss themselves to the department and family when a death in the line of duty occurs. That’s what happened in Tremonton. Estrada and Sorensen were killed on a Sunday, and by Monday, COPS sent support. “We try to bring survivors to those families, particularly spouses, because nobody knows what that person is going through like a spouse who has experienced the same thing,” Evans said. 

Following immediate support, COPS helps make arrangements and offers some financial assistance to send the family of the slain officer to National Police Week held each May in Washington, D.C. It is there that their loved one’s name is added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall located in Judiciary Square. 

“A lot of law enforcement agencies don’t know who COPS are, and it takes a tragedy for them to learn. After Derek’s death, the Arizona COPS assisted Draper P.D. and the Johnson family in getting back to Washington, D.C. for Police Week and the National Law Enforcement Memorial Service,” Evans said. It was that support from Arizona COPS that pushed the founding of a Utah chapter of COPS across the finish line, a process that had been started by the family of Trooper Aaron Beesley who died in June 2012. 

“We’re this big network. If somebody needs something, it’s one call away for help, love and support,” said Shante Johnson, widow of Draper Sgt. Derek Johnson. Shante Johnson currently serves as president of Utah Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS), the nonprofit that holds two fundraisers every year to support the families and colleagues of slain officers. (Mimi Darley Dutton/City Journals)

Through fundraising efforts, Utah COPS has a long-term goal of paying the way for families to go to Washington, D.C. Currently, they offer some financial help toward making that happen.

For ongoing support, COPS hosts weekend retreats across the nation for spouses and coworkers and weeklong retreats for children and young adult survivors of slain officers. “When we’re striving to thrive, it’s important that we’re healing with people who understand us the most. They even put people together by year of loss and likeness of loss to create lasting bonds and relationships,” Shante Johnson said. 

COPS is one of several organizations that swoop in to support a police department when tragedy strikes. Fire departments also have support systems when one of their own dies doing their job. That said, there’s tremendous support among all public safety personnel to assist one another when needed. 

“When we lose a brother or sister in law enforcement, that’s when everybody within law enforcement and the fire community want to step up and help. That’s one of the honors of working in the public safety field. That’s what we do when these tragedies happen. It takes an army to get it done,” Evans said. 

And so it was in Tremonton-Garland. Evans was sent there by Draper City to assist the families and coworkers on behalf of COPS, but he said he was just one of many in an envoy sent to support the families, colleagues and community. Officers from various departments throughout the state were sent to help plan and orchestrate the large funerals and processions, cover the patrol shifts of Tremonton-Garland police so that they could attend Estrada and Sorensen’s funerals, and keep essential public safety going while giving colleagues and that community time to honor the officers and grieve. 

Shante Johnson reflected on this year’s fundraising efforts for Utah COPS. “This year is especially important because we’ll be taking two families (those of Estrada and Sorensen) back to Washington, D.C. next May,” she said. 

In addition to the annual memorial run, COPS holds a Black and Blue Gala each spring in Salt Lake City. The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and its Auxiliary assist COPS in putting the gala on. More information and an opportunity to donate can be found at Utahcops.org.