United States Law Enforcement Foundation

Education, recognition, support and public awareness: education: among the many educational benefits, we encourage every law-abiding individual to support their local police. We accomplish this with many publications and programs that are educational in nature. In most cases, these are provided without charge to the police agencies or at minimal cost. We produce other educational materials such as posters and printed guidelines to promote police week and to encourage citizen support of police in their own community. Chief of police magazine: uslef publishes a magazine, the chief of police, for its members. It provides information on changes in the Law as well as successful anti-crime programs, administrative concerns and training of staff and officers to chiefs of police, county sheriffs, state and federal agencies and universities, who employ hundreds of thousands of sworn Law Enforcement officers in the United States. Survey: on an annual basis, we conduct a survey of command officers regarding issues and questions of ethics that they in turn can use as a guideline for training and actions. The survey also provides the media, the legislature and the community with the views of the police departments on subjects such as firearms, funding, training, use of force, sharing crime facts, and problems dealing with the use of narcotics, school violence, and issues of policing in the years ahead. We can respond to major issues, via the results of the survey, which is now in its 35th year of publication. Police ethics: part of the educational program of the United States Law Enforcement Foundation is to reach out to citizens in the community to help set standards for police leadership and police ethics. We encourage citizens to understand that a real professional must have ethics and standards to keep the community alert to trends in crime and in the selection of men and women who uphold the Law. Police museum: the 30,000 square foot police museum houses many exciting exhibits and displays that provide visitors with an abundance of hands-on educational opportunities. Visitors learn about police equipment from yesterday, today and tomorrow, and about such topics as terrorism, street and prison weapons, and capital punishment through a close-up view of thousands of artifacts assembled from all over the world over the past 63 years. A simulated crime scene together with police investigations and forensics tools provide an opportunity for visitors to gain a better understanding of crime scene investigation work. An interactive counterfeit money display allows visitors to check the authenticity of their currency using several techniques available to Law Enforcement agencies. In addition to the general public, thousands of police officers and survivors of police officers killed in the line of duty visit the museum every year to see the memorial where more than 11,430 names of slain police officers from the past 63 years are engraved. Training facility: our training rooms have been used by many governmental agencies, local municipalities and educational institutions for training and educational sessions. These groups include the u.s. department of commerce, 18th judicial circuit court, Florida department of Law Enforcement, Florida department of transportation, brevard county sheriff's office, titusville police department, kennedy space center security, brevard county correctional institute, eastern Florida state college police academy, Florida institute of technology, brevard county, the city of titusville, police benevolent association, and the space coast league of cities. Numerous schools make field trips that start in the training room and then continue to the museum and memorial. Thousands of school children have been part of uslef's programs. Every year during the week of may 15th, we hold services where the families of slain officers are invited, as are members of the board of directors, to commemorate and remember officers killed in the line of duty during prior years. Shooting center: our 24-lane indoor gun range known as the shooting center is open to Law Enforcement, corrections, security, military personnel and the general public. The range is used for teaching firearms safety, self-defense, training, competitions and practice. More than 20,000 people annually shoot in the range. Many of these are first time firearms users who come away with a keen appreciation for the skills and competencies required of Law Enforcement officers in the performance of their duties and with a real life, first-hand education on firearms safety. The shooting center has hosted training conducted by kennedy space center security, the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives, the state attorney's office, department of homeland security, the us department of labor, the national park service, brevard county sheriff's office, melbourne police department, the titusville police department, and has hosted events in conjunction with the civilian marksmanship program, njrotc, keiser university, boy scouts of america and Florida sport shooting association. Many private security firms and training organizations use the shooting center for firearms and self-defense training and for armed security officer qualifying. Recognition: national awards program: this program is in its 63rd year. Various citations, medals and uniform bars are available to all u.s. Law Enforcement agencies for the purpose of recognizing acts of service and valor. This simple but effective method of recognition is very important for officer morale. The medals and uniform bars are similar to those worn by members of the armed forces and can be worn on a police uniform. The second highest award a Law Enforcement officer can receive is the silver star of bravery. Citizens who come to the aid of local Law Enforcement officers and/or fellow citizens are also eligible for recognition through the national award program. Medal of honor: the highest award, the posthumous medal of honor, is issued when an officer has died in the line of duty. The award is sent to the officer's department and then presented to the officer's family. The officer's name, rank and department affiliation is then added to the memorial walls located inside the police museum. Law Enforcement officer of the year: one officer is selected each year to receive this award. The award is designed to recognize the bravery and dedication of one outstanding Law Enforcement officer each year. Support: one of the goals of the United States Law Enforcement Foundation is to support the Law Enforcement community that includes individual officers and agencies. The organization seeks to find areas where normal funding and support is not currently available and make that service or funding available. Disabled police officer program: each day almost 160 Law Enforcement officers are injured in the line of duty. Many of these officers will be permanently disabled and unable to return to work. Uslef studies the type of injuries Law Enforcement officers receive. Because each state has differing guidelines concerning disabled officers, there are no consistent standards for a disabled or paralyzed officer to follow. We have a volunteer chairman, who is a permanently disabled officer, who can assist other injured officers and advise them on options for rehabilitation. We provide grants to disabled officers to help with needs such as medical reimbursements or educational scholarships. The children of disabled officers are also provided educational scholarships, christmas and birthday gifts and summer camp grants. Every officer who becomes permanently disabled as a result of a line of duty injury is eligible to enroll at no cost to the officer in our disabled police officers fund. They are provided a free lifetime membership as well as a citation and medal for line of duty injury. We also encourage disabled officers to attend our annual meetings. K-9 matching grant program: the United States Law Enforcement Foundation has worked with 122 police departments in 36 States throughout the u.s. to help raise funds for their canine programs. Over 1,137,000 has been awarded to underfunded police departments since the program began in 2001. Public awareness: uslef strives to make the public aware of the nature and importance of Law Enforcement, the Law Enforcement profession and the dangers that accompany it. Press releases: when a recipient of our national awards program is presented their award, local newspapers often publish the facts surrounding the actions which led to the recipient's recognition. Information on departments who have received assistance from the k9 matching grant program is also provided to local media. Direct mail: information on current relevant Law Enforcement issues are sent to individuals who have expressed interest in the organization's purpose. Throughout the year, personal safety and identity theft information is provided to