#455 | Rallying for Our Protectors: The Story of the Protectors Foundation

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Could you ever imagine putting your life on the line for just $13 an hour? That's the shocking reality for law enforcement officers who risk everything to protect us. In this episode, we scrutinize this dire situation, discussing the crucial role of the Protectors Foundation in providing desperately needed support. We'll dive deep into the foundation’s initiatives and how we can all contribute, be it corporations, equipment manufacturers, or individuals. It's critical to ensure these contributions reach the intended recipients and are utilized effectively, enhancing the officers’ capabilities and safety.

https://theprotectorsfoundation.org/

As we grapple with a disturbing recruitment and retention crisis in law enforcement, the importance of standing behind our protectors cannot be overstated. In our candid conversation, we shed light on the Protectors Foundation's work, urging us all to rally around these brave souls. We also express our heartfelt thanks to those who have already made a difference through their contributions. We'll expose the additional challenges faced by officers in smaller departments, handling complex cases on a shoestring budget. By furnishing resources like tactical training, equipment, and grant application guidance, the Protectors Foundation aims to empower these officers, enhancing their efficiency and safety. Your support truly makes a difference.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
$13.
$13 to put your life on theline.
$13 to have the potential toget shot, to get run over, to
get stabbed, to see the absolutehorror of society.

(00:22):
$13 an hour.
Now.
I have an officer friend that'sin a training course right now
with other local officers andthey're going around Somehow.
We got brought up how muchpeople make and one of the
officers said $13.
13 dollars.

(00:43):
I mean, believe me, I'm aretired federal agent and I
can't imagine a career where youknow putting your life on the
line for $13 an hour.
Now, yes, you sign the paper,you get your degrees, you do
your training, you go to theacademy, you do everything you

(01:03):
can to put on that badge, thatshield, to do that job, and
sometimes, yes, you have to takethat job for $13 an hour.
84 people 84 officers, agents,deputies 84 people 84 souls in
law enforcement have died in aline of duty this year alone and

(01:27):
right now, as I record it,september 20th, 84 people.
Let's look at some of thestatistics right now Drowned 1.
Automobile crash 14,.
Died by gunfire 36.
36.

(01:48):
When I started the foundationthis past year earlier this year
, I should say I started itknowing that I came from a very,
very blessed to have workedwith the federal government.
It was a very blessed settingfor me to get there.
If I ever needed training, Iever needed equipment I could

(02:10):
request it.
Hopefully gets approved andhopefully I get what I need.
But there was the option thatit would.
Earlier this year I went to atraining with one of my friends
putting in on it a handguncourse.
Rikhaag was putting on aWarhawk tactical.
In that course we're lawenforcement officers and we got

(02:32):
to talking.
When you're in a localdepartment, when you're in even
state departments and sometimeseven feds, you don't have the
resources to go out there andget the training you need.
A lot of times you have to payfor it yourself.
So can you imagine you're goingto go to a course that costs
$150, $200, $300 or more,depending on what it is, and

(02:56):
you're making $13 an hour?
Now, I'm not an expertabsolutely not an expert in math
, but I know it takes a lot of$13 to get into $400 if that's
what the training course is forthe weekend.
That's a lot of hours andthat's $13 before the taxes,
before the benefits, beforeeverything else that gets taken

(03:18):
out of.
And can you imagine having totake what little money you have
and getting the training youneed.
So I identify the problem Imean, that's my background With
law enforcement and in military.
You identify the problem, youidentify the issue and then you
attack it every way you can.

(03:38):
So the Protectors Foundationwas formed and it was formed for
this.
The protectors run towardsdanger every day, 24, 7, 365,
all the time they're runningtowards danger.
How do we support them?
How does corporations supportthem?

(04:01):
How do equipment manufacturerssupport them?
How does anybody support theseprotectors?
A lot of times you look online.
You can't really identify howyou can say hey, you know what.
That officer over there needstraining.
How do I get them that trainingthey need?
You can reach out individually,but how do you get the right

(04:24):
products or the right trainingto the right people?
And that's why the ProtectorsFoundation was formed.
The goal is to identify areasthat need work, whether that's
an individual officer, whetherthat's a department, whether
later on, when we move into theother protectors communities,
whether that be fire, whether itbe EMTs, et cetera.

(04:46):
Identify what they need and getit to them.
No BS, get it to them.
The same officer that just wentto training needed red guns.
They needed training weapons.
Their department didn't havethem available.
So I reached out to thearmament systems and procedures,

(05:07):
asp, and they provided the redguns and we were able to get
that equipment to the departmentin time, hand delivered.
Boom, that's what we needed.
So many people have beenreaching forward.
How can they help theprotectors?
One of the creators of QuickClot said hey, you know what?

(05:28):
Here here's a pretty decentdonation.
Get some equipment out to theprotectors and need it.
Quick from Warhawk Tactical hasbeen great about getting
training to the protectorscommunity, but now it's time to
scale up.

(05:49):
And what the great thing aboutthis is I'm not asking you for
money.
I am not asking friends,families, individual donations.
Yes, there is availability ifyou want to donate.
But no, this is the time for meand for my crew to go out there
and ask for donations, whetherit be equipment, training or

(06:09):
monetary donations from thesources, from companies, for
those who businesses that wantto support the protectors,
businesses that may have moneythat they need to donate.
You know, a lot of themarketing money goes to
marketing.
They could hire such and suchto market their products.

(06:30):
What the protectors foundationis doing now is we're going to
say, hey, you know what?
And we have platforms, we havesocial media, we have
influencers on board, we havepeople in the community that if
you provide a donation, ifyou're a business and provides a
donation, you're not only goingto get a charitable tax
donation receipt but you're alsogoing to get the marketing

(06:51):
available to it.
Everybody that donates to theprotectors foundation that wants
it will be identified and we'regoing to say, hey look, they
really helped out in a time ofneed.
But it goes back to the need.
There is a need for theprotectors foundation and I
could tell you right now it isgoing to be on board.

(07:15):
It is on board.
You want to know where everydollar, every cent is going to.
It will be available,guaranteed.
But when I think about $13 anhour and I think about so many
people, I think you know what.
Every officer throughout thecountry has a potential to be

(07:39):
hurt, murdered, killed, losetheir life and limb.
But the other thing is they'realso dealing with the same
things the big departments are.
If you go to small town USA andlet's say they have 10, 13
people on their department, theyare dealing with homicides,
sexual assaults, child death,accidents every crime that the

(08:07):
big cities deal with that.
Some of these big cities mayhave their own detective bureaus
and CSI and everything you canimagine.
These small towns are dealingwith that.
They're doing their owninvestigations.
You know, I always assumed andthis is me coming from the Fed
world and I'll knock myself forbeing a Fed all day long but I

(08:28):
always assumed, if there was amurder, that hey, a detective
from somewhere is going to comein and investigate it.
Or if there is a suspicioussuicide, or if there is a
suicide or any sort of death oranything else going on, I always
assumed that there would besome sort of like hey, there's
going to be like a sheriff'sdetective bureau or someone's
going to come in and supportthese local officers.

(08:51):
No, no, you have very newofficers out there doing complex
cases and for $13 an hour.
So one of the things I'mlooking at is not just doing the

(09:11):
tactical training, not justproviding equipment, but looking
at other ways to provideresources to them.
So if they don't have thatbackground in investigations
they don't have any forensicsbackgrounds, they don't have any
use of forest background, theydon't know how to write a grant
Then we find someone who couldprovide that training to them.

(09:33):
Think about it this way there isgrant money out there, but does
anybody know how to write agrant?
Does anybody know where to findthese resources?
That is gonna be one of thethings that the Protectors
Foundation is gonna be doing,too, is finding the right
resources for the people in need.
So the Protectors Foundation isup and running.
We are a dedicated 501c3nonprofit.

(09:55):
But I want you to think aboutthis.
When I ask you later on if youcould spread the message with
the Protectors Foundation, or ifyou could support us, not
through money, but by sharingthe message and by identifying
the needs of those officers inyour community, those deputies,
those law enforcement agents outthere is to remember that $13

(10:20):
is not enough.
We know that.
Can we help get people paidmore?
I don't think so.
We could write to ourpoliticians and we could write
to our council members and stuff, but how can we support the
Protectors and I want you toremember that that officer, that
agent, that deputy they're outthere by themselves dealing with
the same things that these bigagencies do, but they're doing

(10:43):
it alone and they need support.
We all know that lawenforcement is a crisis right
now for retention andrecruitment.
So these people, theseProtectors out there right now.
They need help.
So the Protectors Foundationwe're up and running.
If you are a business, you're acorporation, you're into the

(11:06):
training realm and you wannareach out to us, you wanna talk,
feel free.
I am always available info atprotectorsus.
You could hit me up on socialmedia, you could hit me up
anywhere.
We have our website,theprotectorsfoundationorg.
We are available to talk and weare available to help the

(11:27):
Protectors out there.
Thank you all for everybodythat has supported the
Protectors Foundation, andthere's a long list of people
who have already helped, whetherthat's through website
development, whether that'sthrough monetary donations,
equipment and training.
Thank you all and I'm reallyexcited to really get this going

(11:50):
to get the help to theProtectors out there, because
the Protectors run towardsdanger.
Thank you all.