CRESTVIEW — Speaking at the Gordon Martial Arts Jan. 6 advancement ceremony, Crestview Police Chief Tony Taylor found similarities between the academy’s guiding tenets and those followed by his police officers.
The 120 students who were promoted to their next belt levels strictly observe a code of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit.
“These are the same tenets police officers follow,” Taylor said.
Taylor soon discovered Gordon Martial Arts supporters follow a sixth tenet: generosity.
Following Taylor’s remarks, academy owner and internationally recognized Taekwondo master Thomas Gordon and his staff passed Taylor’s cap around the packed Crestview Community Center, soliciting donations at Taylor’s recommendation to C.O.P.S.— Concerns of Police Survivors.
Taylor explained that the charity provides financial and emotional support for families of slain law enforcement officers. He is a board member of the local Northwest Florida chapter, which has provided benefits to locally slain officers’ families, including those of OSCO Deputies Bill Myers, Tony Forgione, Burt Lopez and Skip York.
After Taylor’s cap made it around the hall, it was overflowing with $444.09 in donations.
“I knew it was a lot, but I wasn’t expecting this much,” Taylor said after the cash was counted. “We really appreciate Gordon Martial Arts’ generosity.”
“It’s what we do to thank our speakers,” Gordon said of the hat-passing tradition. “We don’t pay them, so this is what we do.”
Each year, between 140 and 160 officers are killed in the line of duty and their families and co-workers are left to cope with the tragic loss. C.O.P.S. (Concerns Of Police Survivors) provides resources to help them rebuild their shattered lives. There is no membership fee to join
C.O.P.S., for the price paid is already too high.
C.O.P.S. was organized in 1984 with 110 individual members. Today membership is over 37,000 survivors including spouses, children, parents, siblings, significant others, and affected co-workers of officers killed in the line of duty.
C.O.P.S. is governed by a national board of law enforcement survivors. All programs and services are administered by the national office in Camdenton, Missouri. C.O.P.S. has more than 50 chapters nationwide, including a Northwest Florida one, that work with survivors at
the grass-roots level. For information about the local C.O.P.S. chapter, contact Crestview Police Chief Tony Taylor, 682-3544 or taylort@crestviewpd.org.
Source: www.NationalCOPS.org
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Ceremony raises funds for slain officers' families