Texas Fallen Officer Foundation - Advocacy/Education

Advocacy/Education

Texas Fallen Officer Foundation is committed to fulfilling its mission of providing education and advocacy in support of issues impacting law enforcement officers and public safety including raising awareness about impending threats.

Serving those who need it most

American Police Beat - Chaplain Ron Leonard, the Texas state and national volunteer chaplain for the Fallen Officer Foundation, rescued pup Molly when she was left out in 18-degree weather to die with her mom. Fast-forward 11 years, and Molly is a trained therapy dog comforting those who are hurting — especially children and our law enforcement community. She has conducted more than 5,000 visits and over 100 critical incident calls, including officer down shootings, school shootings and mass shootings.

In April, therapy dog Molly and Chaplain Ron attended the visitation honoring the life and service of Texas DPS Trooper Chad Walker (EOW March 31, 2021), who was killed in an ambush shooting in the line of duty.

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Texas Fallen Officer Foundation Welcomes Tito's Vodka as Its Newest Sponsor

4th Annual Police Survivors' Dinner

Texas FOF Senior Director Kerri Long Awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Tyler Police Department for organizing the relief effort throughout several regions of Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey

After Florida school massacre, what about regulating social media companies to keep us safe?

By Demetrick Pennie, Eric Feinberg

Fox News - Following the Wednesday shooting at a Florida high school that took 17 lives, gun control activists and Second Amendment advocates are predictably arguing about the causes of such horrible violence and what to do next. We should not overlook the big role that social media companies play.

Nikolas Cruz – the 19-year-old who has confessed to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida – posted disturbing material on social media before his attack, authorities said. His posts reportedly included discussing his desire to kill someone, along with hateful messages threatening violence against African-Americans, Jews and gay people, according to media reports.

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DPD Sergeant Demetrick Pennie Hosts 4th Annual Police Survivors' Dinner

DALLAS /PRNewswire-iReach/ - Dallas Police Sergeant Demetrick Pennie and the Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation held their 4th Annual Police Survivors' Dinner at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas. This event was attended by several business owners, police survivor families and law enforcement professionals. The key note speakers for the event were Captain Chad Fleming (U.S. Army Ranger) and Detective Ed Dolan (President of the Jersey City Police Detective's Benevolent Association).

Despite the poor weather conditions, the event was a resounding success. Over 110 guests arrived at the hotel to show their support for the police survivors. There were families and supporters from across the United States including: California, New Jersey and Florida. During the event, 18 families were honored by the Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation and the Texas Fallen Officer Foundation.

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Social Media’s Threat to Law Enforcement

By Demetrick Pennie, M.A., Ed.D. (The Blue Magazine) - In 2016, while researching the influences of social media on the emergence of radicalized groups in America, I noticed empirical trends in how Facebook, Google and Twitter were being used to incite violence against police and how extremist messages promoting violence against police were not being censored by the social media platforms – instead, the companies allowed the threatening content to remain online and proliferate across platforms even after it had been reported several times. Though legislators acknowledged that the content posed a threat to homeland security interests, many ignored the complaints because their political campaigns were funded by the platforms.

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Dallas Police attack déjà vu

By Demetrick Pennie and Eric Feinberg (The Hill) - Déjà vu is a premonition of reliving a past lived experience. Oftentimes, the emotions experienced during déjà vu are reflective of the same emotions experienced during the actual crisis. For us, the sentiments are reminiscent of the period surrounding the July 7, 2016 shooting attack in Dallas, Texas that claimed lives of five police officers during a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest.

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Section 230 Of The CDA Must Align With The 21st Century (By Demetrick Pennie)

LAW360, NEW YORK - In 1996, Congress pursued a measure to prevent children from being exposed to sexual content online. The legislative policy was outlined in 47 U.S.C § 230, formally known as the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Based on provisions outlined in the CDA, it was obvious that...

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