Episode 27

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Published on:

8th Oct 2025

Chris Cosgriff | Officer Down Memorial Page Founder

At just 19 years old, Chris Cosgriff founded the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) from his college dorm room. What started as a student project has grown into the nation’s leading digital memorial for fallen law enforcement officers, honoring their sacrifice and ensuring they are never forgotten.

In this episode of Heroes Behind the Badge, Chris shares the incredible story behind ODMP, its evolution into a national nonprofit, and his personal journey into policing. From the first memorial he ever created to ODMP’s impact on parole hearings and police training, this conversation reveals how one idea became a movement that has touched millions.

--> Share this podcast to honor fallen officers and support ODMP’s mission.

Subscribe for more episodes of Heroes Behind the Badge, where we bring you real stories from America’s law enforcement.

Support law enforcement remembrance at odmp.org

Transcript
Paul Boomer:

Today's guest is Chris Cosgriff, Police Captain and founder

Paul Boomer:

of the Officer Down Memorial Page.

Paul Boomer:

At just 19 as a college freshman.

Paul Boomer:

Chris launched ODMP from his dorm room.

Paul Boomer:

Nearly three decades later, it's become the nation's leading digital

Paul Boomer:

memorial, honoring fallen officers and keeping their stories alive.

Paul Boomer:

In this episode, you'll hear how a single idea grew into a movement, the impact

Paul Boomer:

it's had on families and communities, and how Chris continues to serve on the

Paul Boomer:

front lines of Law Enforcement today.

Paul Boomer:

Here's the full story of Chris and the officer's down Memorial Page.

Dennis Collins:

19-year-old Chris Cosgriff, okay, college

Dennis Collins:

student at James Mason Freshman.

Dennis Collins:

Most kids in his position would be running away from the police or avoiding

Dennis Collins:

the police or complaining about the police or protesting the damn police.

Dennis Collins:

And here's Chris, 19-year-old Chris, taking a whole different route.

Dennis Collins:

That really impressed me that sent a message 'cause that was so.

Dennis Collins:

Uh, different than what most college kids that I knew, including my own

Dennis Collins:

kids were doing at 19 years of age.

Dennis Collins:

So, might be interesting to start there at the beginning.

Dennis Collins:

This was back in 96, I believe.

Dennis Collins:

Yep.

Dennis Collins:

At James Mason University.

Chris Cosgriff:

James Madison.

Dennis Collins:

James Madison.

Dennis Collins:

Not Mason.

Dennis Collins:

Madison.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

And I got my Madisons and Masons.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

But.

Dennis Collins:

Uh, 1996.

Dennis Collins:

Tell us, tell our audience what you did that, by the way, folks is still

Dennis Collins:

alive and well and prospering today.

Dennis Collins:

Welcome to the podcast, Chris.

Chris Cosgriff:

Oh, great.

Chris Cosgriff:

Well, thank you.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, yeah, so, uh, January, 1996, I was a freshman, James

Chris Cosgriff:

Madison University in Virginia.

Chris Cosgriff:

And,

Chris Cosgriff:

I. Just finishing up, uh, a time when I was in, in high school, just, uh,

Chris Cosgriff:

getting interested in, technology, the internet back in the day that

Chris Cosgriff:

was dial up AOL and, and all that.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, um, you know, I entered school in a technology program that the, it

Chris Cosgriff:

was a brand new degree program, called Integrated Science and Technology,

Chris Cosgriff:

which sort of was like a hybrid, between computer science and business.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right?

Chris Cosgriff:

That's the best way to describe it.

Chris Cosgriff:

It's evolved since then, but at the time, that's sort of what it was.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so freshman year I started learning how to, make webpages

Chris Cosgriff:

learning HTML, and j, just the basics.

Chris Cosgriff:

And I, I was, backing it up a little bit.

Chris Cosgriff:

In high school, I had been, uh, an explorer for the Fairfax City Police

Chris Cosgriff:

Department in, in Northern Virginia.

Chris Cosgriff:

It's a small department.

Chris Cosgriff:

At the time it was.

Chris Cosgriff:

Probably 60 officers or so.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, um, you know, I told the, the explorer advisors, my only my dream in

Chris Cosgriff:

life is to become a cop and you know, I'm gonna be a cop here in Fairfax City.

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, and I, I don't know what time I'm gonna do until I'm 21, when

Chris Cosgriff:

I can't, you know, when I can go to the academy and my ex, my advisors,

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, I, you know, I don't.

Chris Cosgriff:

whatever their motive, they're like, no, don't become a cop.

Chris Cosgriff:

Go to college and learn technology and get a degree and go do, make a lot more money.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right.

Chris Cosgriff:

I'm like, I'll show them Oh, about the money, right?

Chris Cosgriff:

Like, I'll show them.

Chris Cosgriff:

Ha ha ha.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, so fast forward back to January 96.

Chris Cosgriff:

I've learned a little bit of HTML learning how to do webpage, and this was, um, I

Chris Cosgriff:

think just a year earlier, Craig, you can correct me if I'm wrong, around 94,

Chris Cosgriff:

95 was the dedication of the memorial.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, and when I was

Craig Floyd:

1991.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah, so when I was an explorer, I had actually participated

Chris Cosgriff:

in that dedication and the walk from the capitol to the memorial, and I

Chris Cosgriff:

got one of those slides that I still have actually in my office here I

Chris Cosgriff:

have, displayed that, that flashlight from the memorial dedication.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so that, you know, as an explorer touched a little bit about, fallen

Chris Cosgriff:

officers and stuff, but it wasn't really on my mind until January of 96.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so I, I still get a little emotional talking about it, but that's

Chris Cosgriff:

sort of, you know, it's, it's made a big impact on my life ever since.

Chris Cosgriff:

And that was when, um, there was a newspaper article on the Washington

Chris Cosgriff:

Post about Terrence Johnson, who murdered, uh, officer Albert Claggett

Chris Cosgriff:

and Officer James Swart from in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Chris Cosgriff:

Mm-hmm.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, those murders happened in 1978, but he was just being released from prison.

Chris Cosgriff:

Wow.

Chris Cosgriff:

And the, the, the Washington Post did this big expose on him, and

Chris Cosgriff:

I just didn't think it was right.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, my connection to Law Enforcement, my connection to like,

Chris Cosgriff:

knowing that the memorial was, had just been dedicated a few years earlier,

Chris Cosgriff:

I was like, well, what can I do?

Chris Cosgriff:

I'm just a college kid.

Chris Cosgriff:

I know.

Chris Cosgriff:

HTML.

Chris Cosgriff:

There was no website for the memorial.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so I just was like, well, I can create a memorial for these

Chris Cosgriff:

officers on, on, on the internet.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right?

Chris Cosgriff:

around that same time, just within a few days of this article, Officer

Chris Cosgriff:

Lori Vaird in Philadelphia was murdered, responding to a bank robbery.

Chris Cosgriff:

She got in the Washington Post, like three sentences where

Chris Cosgriff:

Terrence Johnson gets this whole.

Chris Cosgriff:

Metro section, front page spread.

Chris Cosgriff:

And I was like, that, you know, that's, not right.

Chris Cosgriff:

So I sat down and, and she was the, the first memorial created and within

Chris Cosgriff:

a few days, uh, Brian Peney in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was murdered.

Chris Cosgriff:

He was one of the, the second or third memorial created.

Dennis Collins:

Remember that.

Chris Cosgriff:

His twin brother, just a few days after that, emails me saying,

Chris Cosgriff:

"Hey, thank you for this memorial. It really means a lot." And, um.

Chris Cosgriff:

That's when it hit me how important this was.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so from that day forward, I vowed like, I'll always be

Chris Cosgriff:

involved, I'll always do this.

Chris Cosgriff:

And it, it just sort of really caught.

Chris Cosgriff:

Caught, um, momentum after that.

Chris Cosgriff:

And it's, you know, uh, at one point I would, I would argue was the most visited

Chris Cosgriff:

Law Enforcement website in the world.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right.

Chris Cosgriff:

For a number of years.

Bill Erfurth:

And Chris and Chris, let's chime in and that website that

Bill Erfurth:

you're talking about is the ODMP, the Officer Down Memorial Page.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

Thank you Bill.

Bill Erfurth:

And you are the founder of the Officer Down Memorial Page

Bill Erfurth:

of which today is one of the most prominent sites to go and, uh, research

Bill Erfurth:

and find and honor, uh, officers that have fallen in the line of duty.

Bill Erfurth:

And you are that man that created that.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

Absolutely.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, and, uh, you're, you're right, it is the Officer Down Memorial Page and,

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, I refer to it and I think most people refer to it as ODMP and,

Chris Cosgriff:

You, you know, this, these days, it gets about 4 or 5 million visitors a year.

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, we, we have the, the website, the mobile app, email notifications,

Chris Cosgriff:

plus a series of events that help support the organization and some of the other

Chris Cosgriff:

initiatives that, ODMP supports as well.

Chris Cosgriff:

So, this upcoming January will be the 30 year anniversary.

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, looking back over these 30 years has, wow, been quite a, ride.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, I, I stepped down last September as the executive director, after 29 years.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, um, I'm still on the board of directors and I'm still involved, but, the

Chris Cosgriff:

day-to-day operations, it was, like giving up a child, but I, I did step back and,

Bill Erfurth:

and why did you do that, Chris?

Bill Erfurth:

Why did you do that?

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, well, so.

Chris Cosgriff:

about 12 years ago or 13 years ago, I decided, you know what

Chris Cosgriff:

I'm, after I graduated college, I ended up not being a cop.

Chris Cosgriff:

I took the advisor's, uh, advice and I went into the IT field, but I maintained

Chris Cosgriff:

my work with ODMP on the side as a, essentially as a hobby, on the side.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, um, got older and older and then I was in my mid thirties and

Chris Cosgriff:

I thought, you know what, if I don't do it now, I'll never do it.

Chris Cosgriff:

So I applied at one, one department and that was not the Fairfax City

Chris Cosgriff:

Police Department, it was the Fairfax County Police Department.

Chris Cosgriff:

I got hired and at, at 35 years old, went through the academy and, that was in 2013,

Chris Cosgriff:

um, last year I was promoted to captain.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, you know, with the increased responsibility and expectations

Chris Cosgriff:

here, I just, after 29 years, can no longer balance a full-time job at

Chris Cosgriff:

work and a full-time job with ODMP.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, you know, it was time to hand over the reins and, um.

Chris Cosgriff:

That, that's why, that's why I'm no longer the executive

Chris Cosgriff:

director, but I am still involved.

Bill Erfurth:

But, great.

Bill Erfurth:

So, before, before, uh, Craig, before you jump in, I, I want to

Bill Erfurth:

ask one more question and let, let Craig take it from here.

Bill Erfurth:

Uh, because this kind of goes into what you just said about, uh.

Bill Erfurth:

You applied and you got hired.

Bill Erfurth:

What were the dynamics at that point in time?

Bill Erfurth:

So you're 35 years old, everybody probably knows about the ODMP website.

Bill Erfurth:

They know of you and about you.

Bill Erfurth:

So how was that going into the job?

Bill Erfurth:

Uh, you know, the, the interaction with, with folks there, how was

Bill Erfurth:

that a po a, a real positive?

Bill Erfurth:

Was it, you know, something that was.

Bill Erfurth:

Different.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

I mean the people in Law Enforcement, in the agencies knew, uh, you know, I would

Chris Cosgriff:

argue I was treated no differently than any other applicant and any other recruit.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, you know, the hiring process took the same six to nine months to a year.

Chris Cosgriff:

Is anyone else applying?

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, the, the, my Academy classmates, didn't know for

Chris Cosgriff:

the first few days about it.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, however, at at one point, uh, you know, because our

Chris Cosgriff:

academy, like most academies throughout the country, use ODMP.

Chris Cosgriff:

As a teaching tool.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, you know, so, uh, every single day in our academy class, if there was a

Chris Cosgriff:

line of duty death, one of the recruits would have to come up and write it

Chris Cosgriff:

on the board and read the memorial.

Chris Cosgriff:

And I know, you know, different academies do different things, but,

Chris Cosgriff:

it would be rare for an academy not to somehow incorporate information

Chris Cosgriff:

from ODMP into their, curriculum.

Dennis Collins:

Interesting.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so it was, it was very, very soon

Chris Cosgriff:

after we started where, um.

Chris Cosgriff:

The sergeant in charge of the academy, uh, you know, there was a line of duty death.

Chris Cosgriff:

So he asked every, you know, the, the class as a whole.

Chris Cosgriff:

Does anyone know about Officer Down Memorial Page?

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, of course I'm the only one who raised my hand and, uh, he, um,

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, put me on the spot to, to explain what it was, and, and ex And

Chris Cosgriff:

then he asked me, he knew who I was.

Chris Cosgriff:

He asked me, you know, how do you know about it?

Chris Cosgriff:

And I had to go into that whole thing.

Chris Cosgriff:

So he was just putting me like, you know, on the spot.

Chris Cosgriff:

But, um.

Chris Cosgriff:

But again, throughout the, you know, the rest of the academy I was.

Chris Cosgriff:

The third oldest person in the, in the class of about 50 or 60 people.

Chris Cosgriff:

but, you know, I was treated no differently passed.

Chris Cosgriff:

I had to meet the same requirements as everyone else.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, um, I, I held my head high and, uh, I was honored actually in my graduation.

Chris Cosgriff:

Craig Floyd here was the, the guest speaker, which, was awesome, you know,

Chris Cosgriff:

because he and I had had a relationship for many, many years through.

Chris Cosgriff:

His work with the National Memorial and my work with ODMP and you know,

Chris Cosgriff:

we've become friends and it was, it was just, it was wonderful to see

Chris Cosgriff:

him there and have him either guest speaker, which was coincidence.

Chris Cosgriff:

I had no idea until, because they don't tell us anything about the graduation.

Chris Cosgriff:

You set that up.

Dennis Collins:

That was a setup right?

Dennis Collins:

Hey, before we go, Chris, great story here, but I'm, I'm Craig.

Dennis Collins:

I know you have a lot of questions, but let me just remind everybody this

Dennis Collins:

podcast, heroes Behind the Badge is brought to you by Citizens Behind the

Dennis Collins:

Badge, the leading voice of the American people in support of the men women of

Dennis Collins:

Law Enforcement, it's citizens behind the badge.org, or some people say.org.

Dennis Collins:

If you like what Chris is talking about today.

Dennis Collins:

If you like this podcast, will you do us a favor, hit subscribe.

Dennis Collins:

Hit like hit follow.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

That way when we release new episodes, you will be on the inside.

Dennis Collins:

You'll get first notice of a new episode, and we release new

Dennis Collins:

episodes on a regular basis.

Dennis Collins:

Okay?

Dennis Collins:

Citizens behind the badge.org.

Dennis Collins:

Craig Floyd, our founder, the Chairman Emeritus of the National

Dennis Collins:

Law Enforcement Memorial.

Dennis Collins:

Uh, I don't have to introduce him to you, Chris, and uh, I think

Dennis Collins:

Craig has got some great questions.

Dennis Collins:

You guys have known each other for years and I can't wait to hear the conversation.

Dennis Collins:

You two have Craig take it away.

Craig Floyd:

This is a real honor because Chris and I, uh, I have

Craig Floyd:

lost touch over the last few years.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, I've left the Memorial fund and, uh, he is busy protecting me and my family.

Craig Floyd:

I live in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Craig Floyd:

So Chris is, uh, my protector along with, I don't know what, uh, 1200 or

Craig Floyd:

so other officers at Fairfax County.

Craig Floyd:

So, um, I'm very privileged to have, uh, one of my protectors with us today.

Craig Floyd:

I wanna do a couple things.

Craig Floyd:

One, I want to go back to the incident that you, uh, alluded to that kind of

Craig Floyd:

inspired you to create ODMP, and that was the murder of Albert Claggett and Brian

Craig Floyd:

Swart , um, from Prince George's County.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, I don't know if we, um, uh, got into enough of the details,

Craig Floyd:

but I wanted our audience to know.

Craig Floyd:

These are two Prince George's County police officers here in Maryland,

Craig Floyd:

just outside of Washington, DC.

Craig Floyd:

It occurred in 1978, the incident where they were both murdered

Craig Floyd:

by Terrence Johnson at the time.

Craig Floyd:

He was 15 years old.

Craig Floyd:

He and his brother were arrested that day for rifling through, uh,

Craig Floyd:

the coin, machines at a laundromat, a fairly minor crime you would think.

Craig Floyd:

Right?

Craig Floyd:

They take him into the station.

Craig Floyd:

They fingerprint him, and as they're fingerprinting him, uh,

Craig Floyd:

Albert Claggett, uh, is in a struggle with Terrence Johnson.

Craig Floyd:

Johnson grabs his gun shoots and kills Albert Claggett.

Craig Floyd:

And Brian Swart, who, uh, hears the commotion and the struggle,

Craig Floyd:

tries to come to the rescue and he is also shot and killed.

Craig Floyd:

Killed by this 15-year-old, theft suspect.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, he goes to trial.

Craig Floyd:

He's, uh, convicted of manslaughter for  Claggett's murder.

Craig Floyd:

and, um, he was, uh, not guilty by reason of insanity for murdering Brian Swart

Craig Floyd:

. So a lot of controversy, obviously behind that incident and the murder

Craig Floyd:

and the subsequent conviction.

Craig Floyd:

He was sentenced to 25 years in jail, but was released early

Craig Floyd:

in 1995 and two years later.

Craig Floyd:

Obviously there was a lot of controversy around his early release.

Craig Floyd:

The police community was in, uh, an uproar, as was the community.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, and two years after his release, uh, he and his brother once again, were

Craig Floyd:

caught robbing a bank and be as police closed in, um,  Terrence the murderer,

Craig Floyd:

the cop killer, died by suicide.

Craig Floyd:

Um, so that's the story.

Craig Floyd:

It, it's rather, you know, very troubling of course, but this is the incident

Craig Floyd:

that inspired, uh, the Officer Down Memorial Page and Chris Cosgriff to

Craig Floyd:

do what he did as a college student.

Craig Floyd:

I couldn't be prouder, of anyone for doing what he did to honor our

Craig Floyd:

fallen heroes and Law Enforcement.

Craig Floyd:

And, and I should point out that, uh, over the years Chris and I

Craig Floyd:

have worked very closely together.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, me with the.

Craig Floyd:

Memorial Fund and Chris with ODMP.

Craig Floyd:

And, and we had a, I think, uh, Chris, and you can comment on this, a very

Craig Floyd:

collaborative type of relationship.

Craig Floyd:

He would visit our office often, and he would, and his volunteer leaders, uh, with

Craig Floyd:

ODMP would, scour the, uh, libraries and internet and anything they could find to

Craig Floyd:

find older deaths, line of duty deaths in Law Enforcement that had not been found.

Craig Floyd:

And Chris, tell, tell me about, uh, tell our audience about the work you

Craig Floyd:

did in finding these older deaths.

Craig Floyd:

Um, uh, the Memorial Fund was pretty good at it, but you, you gave, uh, quite

Craig Floyd:

a bit of boost to our efforts in UNC covering these older historical deaths.

Chris Cosgriff:

Sure.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

So, history has always been interesting to me, and, and when we're talking about

Chris Cosgriff:

memorializing officers, you know, when, when we, when I started ODMP in 96, it

Chris Cosgriff:

was easy, uh, relatively easy of course to be, to learn of modern day deaths.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, you would think.

Chris Cosgriff:

These days, everything is instant.

Chris Cosgriff:

On the, on social media.

Chris Cosgriff:

Everyone knows about almost every single death in 96, that wasn't the case.

Chris Cosgriff:

So even modern day death sometimes you didn't hear about it until a year later.

Chris Cosgriff:

but I don't know, it's probably closer to 19, uh, 97, probably a year or two into my

Chris Cosgriff:

work with ODMP where we, where I started going backwards in time and, and that.

Chris Cosgriff:

initially was a result of, two things.

Chris Cosgriff:

One is that I knew that the memorial had historic, had honored historic

Chris Cosgriff:

officers and we wanted to be able to tell those stories as well.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, but also we started as ODMP got a following.

Chris Cosgriff:

We would hear from survivors of, fallen officers from a few years ago

Chris Cosgriff:

or from, 50 years ago or something.

Chris Cosgriff:

You know, even further and saying, Hey, my grandfather was killed

Chris Cosgriff:

a line of duty or this per, this officer in my town was killed in the

Chris Cosgriff:

line, line of duty in 18 hundreds.

Chris Cosgriff:

Can you honor them as well?

Chris Cosgriff:

And so it took a little effort.

Chris Cosgriff:

my.

Chris Cosgriff:

College.

Chris Cosgriff:

One of my college roommates was a computer science major who is an

Chris Cosgriff:

absolute genius, uh, when it came to databases and coding and stuff.

Chris Cosgriff:

His, his name is Mike Schutz.

Chris Cosgriff:

that, that's important because when we incorporated ODMP as a nonprofit, he

Chris Cosgriff:

was one of our first board members also.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, Fast forward a few years, he became my brother-in-law.

Chris Cosgriff:

um, so it, it, you know, keep it in the family I guess.

Chris Cosgriff:

But, uh, so we, we started developing, the first database

Chris Cosgriff:

and we started going back in time.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so then I had to decide, okay, well we want, you know, all these

Chris Cosgriff:

visitors are submitting these officers.

Chris Cosgriff:

I would, I had the, the master name list of fallen officers from the

Chris Cosgriff:

National Memorial, and I would see that.

Chris Cosgriff:

There were officers missing, we were getting names of officers who, the, who

Chris Cosgriff:

the National Memorial didn't know about.

Chris Cosgriff:

And to me that was perplexing.

Chris Cosgriff:

I was like, well, they must know everything right at this time.

Chris Cosgriff:

but very quickly we learned that there were,

Chris Cosgriff:

countless officers who forgotten through time.

Chris Cosgriff:

and that's not through negligence.

Chris Cosgriff:

It's not through any reason other than it, it wasn't a

Chris Cosgriff:

priority, to memorialize officers.

Chris Cosgriff:

N then that the way, the same way it is now.

Chris Cosgriff:

so I would start going to the, to my local library and get like looking at

Chris Cosgriff:

microfilm from, uh, older newspapers.

Chris Cosgriff:

And we would get it through interlibrary alone.

Chris Cosgriff:

I would get a, a microfilm from California or something through interlibrary alone

Chris Cosgriff:

and I would start researching an officer.

Chris Cosgriff:

And inevitably there might be another article about another

Chris Cosgriff:

officer in that same paper.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so.

Chris Cosgriff:

over the last 30 years, I, I've never kept track of the number of

Chris Cosgriff:

officers I've discovered, because to me, I, once I discover 'em or, you

Chris Cosgriff:

know, and honor them on the, on the website, I move on to the next one.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, but I, I would have to estimate it's probably somewhere in the two to 3000

Chris Cosgriff:

officer range that, that I have personally discovered, killed on a line of duty.

Chris Cosgriff:

The, the earliest one.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, it was actually just about two years ago.

Chris Cosgriff:

I'm still doing research.

Chris Cosgriff:

He, he died in 1813 and he was a customs officer up in,

Chris Cosgriff:

Connecticut or, or Rhode Island.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, so it's still, it's still one of those things I enjoy doing when I

Chris Cosgriff:

have the little bit of, uh, free time.

Chris Cosgriff:

I ha I do have, it's a lot easier now with all the online.

Chris Cosgriff:

Resources, so many newspapers are digitized.

Chris Cosgriff:

and, you know, so many other people are out there doing research and

Chris Cosgriff:

submitting maybe like one little clue.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, and then our team of researchers and, and myself can go out and, and

Chris Cosgriff:

really dig into it and get all of the records that are necessary to

Chris Cosgriff:

confirm it as a line of duty, death.

Craig Floyd:

It's amazing and Chris, I, I, I'd be interested if you feel the same

Craig Floyd:

way, but I, I know when we, uh, dedicated the National Law Enforcement Officers

Craig Floyd:

Memorial, there were 12,561 names.

Craig Floyd:

Today there's over 24,000 and about.

Craig Floyd:

I'd say half of the new edition, since we dedicated the memorial in 1991 were these

Craig Floyd:

older deaths that you're referring to, um, deaths that had not been discovered

Craig Floyd:

when we dedicated the National Memorial.

Craig Floyd:

In fact, that was one of our challenges that we, we started from scratch, more

Craig Floyd:

or less in terms of trying to identify fallen officers so we could put their

Craig Floyd:

names on the National Memorial, and the only source we had was the FBI.

Craig Floyd:

They had, uh, kept track of Law Enforcement fatalities

Craig Floyd:

dating back to 1961.

Craig Floyd:

and so we, we were on our own in terms of finding any deaths prior

Craig Floyd:

to 1961 and, and even deaths they had forgotten about since 1961.

Craig Floyd:

and you did the same thing, you and the Memorial fund.

Craig Floyd:

Um, we together, uh, did a lot of research and we had a lot of volunteers helping us.

Craig Floyd:

I know you did too, but.

Craig Floyd:

What a great feeling it is, uh, for me because the tragedy, the, the dark

Craig Floyd:

part of the story is so far removed.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, the family members who were deeply affected when that officer died, to find

Craig Floyd:

an older death, a death that occurred a hundred, 200 years ago, 50 years ago.

Craig Floyd:

To me that that's one of the more satisfying parts of working at the

Craig Floyd:

Memorial Fund, and I'd be interested how you feel, uh, at ODMP, I mean, I

Craig Floyd:

know you're big on the, the recently fallen officers and making sure those

Craig Floyd:

announcements get out quickly, but how about finding these older desks?

Craig Floyd:

What a great feeling that is, right?

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

I I share your, share your sentiment.

Chris Cosgriff:

Exactly.

Chris Cosgriff:

You know, one of the things for me is that.

Chris Cosgriff:

If these officers had been remembered, they would already

Chris Cosgriff:

be on the memorial, right?

Chris Cosgriff:

So the fact that they have been forgotten through time,

Chris Cosgriff:

at one point,

Chris Cosgriff:

their, towns, their cities honored them when they fell or

Chris Cosgriff:

were killed in line of duty.

Chris Cosgriff:

but especially in rural areas, there's no ongoing.

Chris Cosgriff:

Memorial for them or anything.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, it's, great to, to pull that outta history, find the story piece

Chris Cosgriff:

together, their, their biography piece together, the events that uh, led to

Chris Cosgriff:

their death and then in a, in many cases, especially the historic ones, uh,

Chris Cosgriff:

where maybe the, the person responsible for a murder, went on the lam and

Chris Cosgriff:

wasn't arrested for a year or two.

Chris Cosgriff:

And like following that story through, through the manhunt and through the.

Chris Cosgriff:

Through potentially a court disposition and pulling all that back together and,

Chris Cosgriff:

and packaging it up into one memorial so people can read it and memor.

Chris Cosgriff:

And remember these people, you know now that they're memorialized on

Chris Cosgriff:

ODMP and their names are engraved in the National Memorial, their

Chris Cosgriff:

names are never forgotten again.

Chris Cosgriff:

They will always be available for every Law Enforcement officer for descendants

Chris Cosgriff:

who had no idea they were even related.

Chris Cosgriff:

we've reached, I've done discoveries and then reached out to people

Chris Cosgriff:

through genealogy websites who had no idea that their their ancestor was

Chris Cosgriff:

an officer killed in line of duty.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, so it's great to make these connections to, to bring these officers

Chris Cosgriff:

essentially back to life through history and tell those stories and it is, it's

Chris Cosgriff:

like for you, I share that it's, it's extremely satisfying and, you know, I'm

Chris Cosgriff:

humbled to be able to be part of that.

Craig Floyd:

I wanna change a great partnership because, um, just a, a final

Craig Floyd:

comment that, ODMP and the, at the outset in 1996 and for many years was the only

Craig Floyd:

source really for recently fallen deaths.

Craig Floyd:

Right?

Craig Floyd:

The only ones, anyway, that was announcing it to the public.

Craig Floyd:

Somewhere where police officers could go to find out, if someone

Craig Floyd:

died in their profession recently and maybe they wanted to attend the

Craig Floyd:

funeral or at least express a, a condolance to the department involved.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, while the Memorial Fund was, uh, more interested in the long-term honoring

Craig Floyd:

of those officers, uh, we had a vetting process that was, uh, very, involved, uh,

Craig Floyd:

where we'd get all the details about an officer's death and then actually have

Craig Floyd:

a committee to review each case, make sure they met our criteria before the

Craig Floyd:

names would go on the National Memorial.

Craig Floyd:

And meanwhile, ODMP was putting out the early reports, uh,

Craig Floyd:

of those, uh, fatalities.

Craig Floyd:

So it was.

Craig Floyd:

A great, uh, I think partnership, uh, that lasted for many, many years.

Craig Floyd:

And, uh, which I, I just, before I turn things back to Bill, the criteria that

Craig Floyd:

you use on ODMP to put an officer on the memorial, I think our audience would be

Craig Floyd:

interested knowing who's eligible and, um, and how you go through that process.

Chris Cosgriff:

Sure.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

So our, so our criteria, no surprise is, was influenced heavily by the National

Chris Cosgriff:

Memorial Criteria, a as well as the Public Safety Officer Benefits Program.

Chris Cosgriff:

So it's sort of a, an amalgamation of that.

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, we, we try to be as inclusive as possible, but at the core of it,

Chris Cosgriff:

you have to be a Law Enforcement officer with the power of arrest.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, with few exceptions, and those exceptions would be, probably

Chris Cosgriff:

along the lines of, corrections and detention officers who have

Chris Cosgriff:

responsibility as supervision of inmates.

Chris Cosgriff:

'cause you know, many of those, you know, those in our industry know that there's

Chris Cosgriff:

a different certification process, uh, between a fully sworn Law Enforcement

Chris Cosgriff:

officer of arrest and, and say detention or corrections officers in some areas.

Chris Cosgriff:

They have to be killed or die in the line of duty, or, you know, as a direct

Chris Cosgriff:

result of a line of duty incident.

Chris Cosgriff:

So the, the obvious ones would be, felonious attacks on them,

Chris Cosgriff:

gunshots, stabbings, physical assaults, vehicle crashes, uh,

Chris Cosgriff:

you know, other types of crashes, motorcycles, airplanes, boats, you.

Chris Cosgriff:

Accidents, right?

Chris Cosgriff:

Someone, an officer falls down a set of stairs or off of a

Chris Cosgriff:

wall or something like that.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, and then, then you get into like the ones that are honored more recently, which

Chris Cosgriff:

would be like the heart attacks or medical related things that have a nexus to, to

Chris Cosgriff:

their work as a Law Enforcement officer.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, and Craig, you probably remember this too, and you know, one

Chris Cosgriff:

of the things when we started honoring heart attacks and started honoring,

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, say like strokes or aneurysms and, and things along those lines.

Chris Cosgriff:

We actually got pushback from, uh, I'll call 'em old timers in Law

Chris Cosgriff:

Enforcement where there was a stigma where if you were not shot and killed

Chris Cosgriff:

in the line of duty, it didn't matter.

Chris Cosgriff:

It wasn't a line of duty death to to certain parts of the

Chris Cosgriff:

Law Enforcement community.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so.

Chris Cosgriff:

One of the things that I established early on at ODMP is that every line of

Chris Cosgriff:

duty, death, we treat exactly the same.

Chris Cosgriff:

So whether it's a gunshot, whether it's a car crash, whether it's a heart attack,

Chris Cosgriff:

whether it's a, a drowning, we treat every single memorial the same, the, they are

Chris Cosgriff:

all formatted the same, the same type of information is on there, the same level

Chris Cosgriff:

of detail, that photographs, everything.

Chris Cosgriff:

and so we take a lot of pride in that and, and.

Chris Cosgriff:

You know, the, the development of these memorials over time, um, goes

Chris Cosgriff:

to honor that criteria and, and not really look for reasons to expand it.

Chris Cosgriff:

We, have over time, but to treat every line of duty, death as the same.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so COVID was a bit another example of a, um, big shift in.

Chris Cosgriff:

What is a line of duty death.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, uh, again, not surprisingly, and I know the National Memorial went

Chris Cosgriff:

through this too, is that when we started, started off honoring officers

Chris Cosgriff:

who died, that we could show definitively or Presump presumptively died of COVID

Chris Cosgriff:

that contracted the line of duty.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, we had a big pushback from that.

Chris Cosgriff:

and, um, you know, we.

Chris Cosgriff:

We stuck with it.

Chris Cosgriff:

We treated them all the same.

Chris Cosgriff:

And um, you know, I think people eventually came around and realized

Chris Cosgriff:

that this was a significant issue.

Chris Cosgriff:

I.

Bill Erfurth:

So I want to jump in and just talk about Chris

Bill Erfurth:

a little bit and go way back.

Bill Erfurth:

So, uh, when Chris and I were both significantly younger and, and we'd

Bill Erfurth:

be there for National Police Week in Washington, DC and you and I are running

Bill Erfurth:

around going to all the events and doing things, but, uh, you and Craig had a, a,

Bill Erfurth:

uh kind of parallel synergy at that point, because both of you were probably some of

Bill Erfurth:

the best known people in Law Enforcement, that weren't Law Enforcement and that

Bill Erfurth:

was, uh, and, and, and then now you've, obviously, you've moved on and you're a

Bill Erfurth:

police captain now and all, but, uh, one of the things I remember the most about

Bill Erfurth:

us running around in Washington DC was, uh, your 5K run the officer down memorial.

Bill Erfurth:

5K Run.

Bill Erfurth:

Why don't you talk about that and how that, who did that benefit and

Bill Erfurth:

how did that, that all come together?

Chris Cosgriff:

Sure.

Chris Cosgriff:

So, so it's, um, the, the, a lot of people call it the ODMP 5K, but it's actually

Chris Cosgriff:

the National Police Week 5K, uh, formally.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, um, I will.

Chris Cosgriff:

The upfront, that was not my brainchild.

Chris Cosgriff:

We actually inherited that event from, an FBI agent who had started it.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, and through, his own busy life was unable to keep it going,

Chris Cosgriff:

and, uh, reached out to us to see if we wanted to collaborate

Chris Cosgriff:

and, and eventually take it over.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so we actually took it over probably in year three or four of him.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, operating this.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, and we very quickly realized that it was around the same time where we, the

Chris Cosgriff:

ODMP was going through a transition of all volunteer to actually having a staff.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so, as part of that, of course you need funding.

Chris Cosgriff:

and so.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, when we took over the National Police Week 5K, we, we turned

Chris Cosgriff:

it into a sort of a hybrid.

Chris Cosgriff:

there were two benefactors, from the funds of it.

Chris Cosgriff:

It was, uh, US and it was also concerns of police survivors, uh, which is

Chris Cosgriff:

another absolutely amazing organization.

Chris Cosgriff:

And one close to my heart, and I know close to all of your hearts here.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, and I coincidentally cops.

Chris Cosgriff:

The creation of cops was also as a result of Officer Cleggett and Officer Schwartz

Chris Cosgriff:

murder in Prince George's County as well.

Chris Cosgriff:

So, so the national police speak 5K.

Chris Cosgriff:

It's, pro coming up on 20 year anniversary of that, I would imagine.

Chris Cosgriff:

and we, you know, at the time we would take over downtown DC uh, during

Chris Cosgriff:

police week and it would start and end right at the National Memorial.

Chris Cosgriff:

Shut down the streets, it would run right by the US Capitol and it

Chris Cosgriff:

would end, start, and end again.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right.

Chris Cosgriff:

Literally at the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial, which, uh, had a a.

Chris Cosgriff:

Super significant meaning to, to everyone in attendance.

Chris Cosgriff:

can everybody, and we, it grew from when we took it over, there were just a few

Chris Cosgriff:

hundred people who ran it to, I think our, the, highest we had was right before

Chris Cosgriff:

COVID was about 3000, uh, participants from, from around the country and around

Chris Cosgriff:

the world, uh, would run that event.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so we've, we took the opportunity to create a virtual event so people

Chris Cosgriff:

in other countries could run it in conjunction with the actual event.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, and just, uh, last year we started a. We call it the halfway to the 5K event,

Chris Cosgriff:

which is actually at the six month mark.

Chris Cosgriff:

So, and it's only half of a 5K and it's a completely virtual event.

Chris Cosgriff:

So we're trying to keep the momentum going throughout the year with this.

Chris Cosgriff:

And, and the ultimate goal, again, it's, it's, uh, it's a fundraising event for

Chris Cosgriff:

us so we can pay our staff and it's also, an event to bring awareness and

Chris Cosgriff:

allow the community and, and officers to run in memory of the fallen officers.

Chris Cosgriff:

So, Chris, how can people find out more about that?

Chris Cosgriff:

So you can go to the to the ODMP website, ODMP.org.

Chris Cosgriff:

or you can also go to the National Police Week, uh, 5K website, which

Chris Cosgriff:

is nationalpoliceweek5k.org..

Bill Erfurth:

So talk about the evolution of ODMP, how many staff, where you

Bill Erfurth:

headquartered, what's going on these days?

Chris Cosgriff:

What's next?

Chris Cosgriff:

So, so the evolution, you know, it started in my dorm room on the eighth floor of

Chris Cosgriff:

Eagle Hall in Harrisonburg, Virginia, uh, running off of a school web server

Chris Cosgriff:

so that the very first version of it was jmu.edu/ODMP or something like that.

Chris Cosgriff:

You know, and, and today we are, you know, the headquarters is in Fairfax, Virginia.

Chris Cosgriff:

It's, it's near the, uh, our historic courthouse in the county.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, there's a staff of six people in the office, and then we have some remote,

Chris Cosgriff:

software developers who help us as well.

Chris Cosgriff:

and so.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, you know, it's, it's a full-time operation and, uh,

Chris Cosgriff:

it's almost a 24 7 operation.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, you know, as far as the line of duty death notifications, you know,

Chris Cosgriff:

whether that happens on a weekend, a holiday at night, uh, as soon as we

Chris Cosgriff:

know about it, someone jumps on it to get that notification sent out.

Dennis Collins:

Wow.

Dennis Collins:

Chris, on that, I have a, um, I, I guess I signed up years ago when I

Dennis Collins:

first met you, and I don't even remember how I signed up, but all I know is.

Dennis Collins:

Every time there is, God forbid, another officer death on duty.

Dennis Collins:

Death.

Dennis Collins:

And also, I noticed you mentioned people who are about to get on parole.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

that you highlight, Hey, so and so was convicted, blah, blah, blah,

Dennis Collins:

and thereabout, they're a year or so away from getting out on parole.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

How could our listeners, our viewers get if they're not already

Dennis Collins:

getting the o uh, your, your, um.

Dennis Collins:

You know, your alerts, how can they get that and tell us a little

Dennis Collins:

bit more about the parole part.

Dennis Collins:

How did that become part of your service?

Chris Cosgriff:

Sure.

Chris Cosgriff:

So, so to get the alerts, uh, you go to ODMP.org, and or just Google, ODMP.

Chris Cosgriff:

It'll be the first result.

Chris Cosgriff:

And there's an option to subscribe to email notifications.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, you can, you can do it, uh, by creating an ODMP account, or you can

Chris Cosgriff:

just subscribe with your email address.

Chris Cosgriff:

You can also, if you Google or, uh, if you go to either the, iTunes store or

Chris Cosgriff:

Google Play Store, you can just search ODMP and download the mobile app.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, and we do notifications through the mobile app as well.

Chris Cosgriff:

the, what was the second part of your question?

Dennis Collins:

the, I start seeing, I started seeing notices about people.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

No parole for cop killer.

Chris Cosgriff:

So, so that's one of the programs,

Chris Cosgriff:

just memorializing officers wasn't enough for us.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so we wanted to make sure that justice was done also, because one of

Chris Cosgriff:

the most infuriating things, for me, I, and in fact the reason I started ODMP was

Chris Cosgriff:

because a cop killer was being released.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right?

Chris Cosgriff:

And it, and it frankly pissed me off.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, so.

Chris Cosgriff:

One of the things that the organization did was to create a program to, uh,

Chris Cosgriff:

empower people within the community, Law Enforcement, uh, citizens alike,

Chris Cosgriff:

to be notified when a cop killer was coming up for parole and they could

Chris Cosgriff:

in turn, provide, uh, send a letter to the parole board, basically encouraging

Chris Cosgriff:

them to not, uh, grant parole to to the.

Chris Cosgriff:

Inmate.

Chris Cosgriff:

so it's been a very successful program.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, we've had, hundreds of, over the course of the program's life, hundreds

Chris Cosgriff:

of, potential pearls coming up, and the vast majority, uh, have been denied.

Chris Cosgriff:

we have heard back feedback from.

Chris Cosgriff:

family members, uh, you know, survivors of the, the officer victims who said

Chris Cosgriff:

that the letters certainly helped and really were, you know, tipped the scale

Chris Cosgriff:

to ensure that they were kept locked

Dennis Collins:

up.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah, that's great.

Dennis Collins:

I mean, obviously honoring the fallen officers is, was the

Dennis Collins:

main mission, but I really.

Dennis Collins:

Enjoyed, I shouldn't say enjoyed.

Dennis Collins:

I guess I was happy to get those alerts that somebody is

Dennis Collins:

paying attention to this stuff.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah.

Dennis Collins:

You know, somebody's watching this and not just letting these guys go free.

Dennis Collins:

I mean, I mean, I guess probably on this call, all of us would

Dennis Collins:

probably like to see no parole for, uh, anybody who kills a cop.

Dennis Collins:

Unfortunately, that's not how.

Dennis Collins:

The entire United States thinks.

Dennis Collins:

But yeah, we keep trying and you are leading the charge, so yeah.

Dennis Collins:

Good for you, bill And uh, Craig, other questions for Chris?

Dennis Collins:

This has been very informative.

Dennis Collins:

I thought I knew a little bit about ODMP, but I didn't know

Dennis Collins:

as much as I should have done.

Dennis Collins:

I appreciate you coming on today.

Dennis Collins:

And one, one

Craig Floyd:

last thing I had Chris, is, even before the internet has

Craig Floyd:

expanded, I mean now we have ai.

Craig Floyd:

So you can ask questions all the time and was there a cop kill, uh, killed today?

Craig Floyd:

You know, whatever, and you get the answer immediately and you

Craig Floyd:

might even see a photoCosgriff.

Craig Floyd:

But you guys started doing that in 1996 forward.

Craig Floyd:

I'm just amazed at how your volunteer network must be massive.

Craig Floyd:

I mean, you must have been getting alerts from people all over the country saying,

Craig Floyd:

Hey, we just had a cop killed in my city today, and here's the information.

Craig Floyd:

I mean, how many volunteers have you relied on at ODMP over the years?

Chris Cosgriff:

Oh, countless.

Chris Cosgriff:

Countless.

Chris Cosgriff:

and.

Chris Cosgriff:

they've, many of them have become close friends.

Chris Cosgriff:

Many of them are people who just co you know, occasionally

Chris Cosgriff:

Will, will send something.

Chris Cosgriff:

but, or, you know, especially early on, we relied heavily on exactly what you

Chris Cosgriff:

described, which was someone in, you know, some, some little town and in the

Chris Cosgriff:

Midwest where, uh, an officer was killed in that town or the next town over and

Chris Cosgriff:

they heard about it on their local news and they, they contact us to let us know.

Chris Cosgriff:

Right.

Chris Cosgriff:

whereas.

Chris Cosgriff:

Through normal channels.

Chris Cosgriff:

Something that happened in Kansas would never make it to Virginia,

Chris Cosgriff:

uh, without the, these volunteers.

Chris Cosgriff:

And so we would get that information, we would go and, and source it.

Chris Cosgriff:

We would call agencies.

Chris Cosgriff:

We would use, you know, local news websites and or whatever we had

Chris Cosgriff:

to do to, to verify the details.

Paul Boomer:

More volunteers.

Paul Boomer:

And

Chris Cosgriff:

we would, you know, create the memorials.

Chris Cosgriff:

Uh, after that.

Craig Floyd:

That's interesting that, um, and you alluded to it earlier,

Craig Floyd:

that most of the time when a cop is killed in America, it, it doesn't get

Craig Floyd:

a lot of national attention, if at all.

Craig Floyd:

Uh, I know, uh, when I open up the Washington Post every morning, I, I would

Craig Floyd:

expect to see at least a blurb, if not a whole article about an officer who

Craig Floyd:

might have been killed in the line of duty at some other part of the country.

Craig Floyd:

But that's not really the case.

Craig Floyd:

As you point out, unless you have people in that part of the country,

Craig Floyd:

in that community where that officer died, most of us, uh, in the rest of

Craig Floyd:

the country aren't gonna know about it.

Craig Floyd:

But thanks to ODMP, we did learn about those deaths quickly.

Craig Floyd:

and ultimately their names did go on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Craig Floyd:

so that they're remembered, forever.

Craig Floyd:

Um, we will never forget, uh, the Law Enforcement heroes who have given their

Craig Floyd:

life for this country, at the memorial at ODMP, and hopefully, as you pointed

Craig Floyd:

out, uh, because there are more memorials all over the country now in states and

Craig Floyd:

localities, um, these officers are getting their due honor and their due remembrance.

Craig Floyd:

So I hope that continues, but let me conclude my comments today

Craig Floyd:

by saying I'm very proud of you.

Craig Floyd:

Very.

Craig Floyd:

uh, it couldn't be.

Craig Floyd:

more pleased with the work you've done over many, many years to honor

Craig Floyd:

the fallen Law Enforcement heroes of our country, and I'm proud to

Craig Floyd:

be a partner of yours and a friend.

Craig Floyd:

Um, so thank you sir.

Craig Floyd:

And thank you for coming on our, uh, show today.

Craig Floyd:

This has, uh, been, I know our audience knows, you, knows ODMP,

Craig Floyd:

but now they know the whole story.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah.

Chris Cosgriff:

Well, I, I appreciate it and it's an honor.

Chris Cosgriff:

It's great to reconnect and with, with all of you and to, uh, be able to tell

Chris Cosgriff:

the story and I, you know, it's just, 45 minutes or an hour is not enough.

Chris Cosgriff:

It doesn't do it justice.

Chris Cosgriff:

But, you know, I'll, I'll leave with this.

Chris Cosgriff:

You know, Bill asked about um, the evolution of ODMP.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, you know, from 96 until today, we've gone through several iterations of, uh,

Chris Cosgriff:

website design and the infrastructure.

Chris Cosgriff:

it was supposed to launch this summer, uh, where it got a little

Chris Cosgriff:

bit delayed, but hopefully within the next two weeks, Fingers crossed,

Chris Cosgriff:

uh, we'll have a completely new ODMP experience, a complete redesign.

Chris Cosgriff:

Again, that will really empower, uh, our visitors to go in depth into

Chris Cosgriff:

the stories and to find data and to do analysis into line of duty,

Chris Cosgriff:

deaths, trends, patterns, and uh, um.

Chris Cosgriff:

You know, more information about it.

Chris Cosgriff:

So keep your eyes out for that.

Chris Cosgriff:

That should hopefully, fingers crossed in the next two, two or three weeks be out.

Dennis Collins:

And you mentioned, uh, earlier that you

Dennis Collins:

are a charitable organization.

Dennis Collins:

I assume you're a registered 5 0 1 C3, is that Yes,

Chris Cosgriff:

we are.

Chris Cosgriff:

Yep.

Dennis Collins:

Tell the listeners, the viewers, how can they get involved?

Dennis Collins:

Because obviously you have a staff, you have a mission, and it needs

Dennis Collins:

funding, and part of that funding comes from the public, right?

Chris Cosgriff:

Yeah, it does.

Chris Cosgriff:

visiting our website, there's, there's ways to volunteer, there's

Chris Cosgriff:

ways to participate in our events.

Chris Cosgriff:

The National Police Week 5K.

Chris Cosgriff:

We have a, a motorcycle ride called the Officer Down Memorial Ride.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, and you can also donate through there.

Chris Cosgriff:

It's a tax deductible donation in all 50 states.

Chris Cosgriff:

and there, there you can donate right online.

Chris Cosgriff:

Um, and then we also have the ODMP store, which is ODMP, branded

Chris Cosgriff:

merchandise to that has, you know, memorializes fallen officers and

Chris Cosgriff:

also supports the organization, through the proceeds of the sales.

Chris Cosgriff:

That's great.

Dennis Collins:

how can we thank you.

Dennis Collins:

I mean, you have created a digital monument, actually a digital

Dennis Collins:

monument that will forever declare that honor is not optional.

Dennis Collins:

forgetting.

Dennis Collins:

It is not acceptable and it's the core of your culture.

Dennis Collins:

It's the core of our culture at Citizens Behind the Badge.

Dennis Collins:

It's, it's so nice to talk to someone of a like mind and ob.

Dennis Collins:

Obviously, you and Craig have worked together for years.

Dennis Collins:

For the same mission, to never forget the people who have made the

Dennis Collins:

ultimate sacrifice for all of us.

Dennis Collins:

Chris, thanks for being on Heroes Behind the Badge.

Dennis Collins:

Uh, you've got a great story.

Dennis Collins:

remind them, uh, our listeners once again and our viewers,

Dennis Collins:

what is your website please?

Chris Cosgriff:

you go to ODMP.org.

Chris Cosgriff:

So stands for Officer Down Memorial Page, or, uh, search for ODMP

Chris Cosgriff:

in, iTunes or Google Play Store.

Dennis Collins:

Great.

Dennis Collins:

and great job, Chris.

Dennis Collins:

Yeah, thanks.

Dennis Collins:

Great job.

Dennis Collins:

Thank you, sir. I just wanna remind our viewers and our listeners,

Dennis Collins:

this is Heroes Behind the Badge.

Dennis Collins:

Today's hero was Chris Cosgriff, and you, if you didn't hear the whole

Dennis Collins:

podcast, go back and start over.

Dennis Collins:

It's a great story.

Dennis Collins:

It's a great story.

Dennis Collins:

remember this podcast, heroes Behind the Badge is brought to you

Dennis Collins:

by Citizens behind the badge.org.

Dennis Collins:

Citizens Behind the Badge is the leading voice of the American people in support

Dennis Collins:

of the men and women of Law Enforcement.

Dennis Collins:

Subscribe, follow.

Dennis Collins:

You'll be first in line.

Dennis Collins:

When the next episode comes out.

Dennis Collins:

Okay.

Dennis Collins:

Again, Chris, thanks again.

Dennis Collins:

We appreciate you.

Dennis Collins:

We appreciate your story.

Dennis Collins:

That'll do it for this episode of Heroes Behind the Badge.

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About the Podcast

Heroes Behind the Badge
We tell REAL stories about REAL cops.  And we expose the fake news about police and give you the REAL truth.
From the front lines to the final call, Heroes Behind the Badge brings you the untold stories of America's law enforcement community. Led by Craig Floyd, who spent 34 years working alongside police officers across the nation, alongside veteran facilitator Dennis Collins and law enforcement expert Bill Erfurth, this podcast cuts through misconceptions to reveal the true nature of modern policing.

Our dynamic trio brings unique perspectives to each episode: Craig shares deep insights from his decades of experience and relationships within law enforcement, Dennis guides conversations with meticulous research and natural flow, and Bill adds engaging commentary that makes complex law enforcement topics accessible to all listeners.

Each episode features in-depth conversations with law enforcement professionals, sharing their firsthand experiences, challenges, and triumphs. Drawing from extensive research and real-world experience, we explore the realities faced by the over 800,000 officers who serve and protect our communities every day.

From dramatic accounts of crisis response to quiet moments of everyday heroism, our show illuminates the human stories behind the badge. We dive deep into the statistics, policies, and practices that shape modern law enforcement, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of what it truly means to serve in law enforcement today.

Whether you're a law enforcement professional, a concerned citizen, or someone seeking to understand the complexities of modern policing, Heroes Behind the Badge provides the context, insights, and authentic perspectives you won't find anywhere else. Join us weekly as we honor those who dedicate their lives to keeping our communities safe, one story at a time.

Presented by Citizens Behind the Badge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for law enforcement professionals across the United States. Join over 126,000 Americans who have already signed our Declaration of Support for law enforcement at behindbadge.org.