Atlanta police and the mayor took time Sunday morning to say thank you to a local church that purchased life insurance policies for Atlanta Police Department officers.
Peachtree Presbyterian Church established the fund after Officer Mark Cross was killed in the line of duty 10 years ago. Since Marks' death four other APD officers have been killed in the line of duty: Peter Faatz, Gail English, Richard Halford and Shawn Smiley. Thanks to the life insurance policy, each family has received the $100,000 benefit.
Sunday, Mayor Kasim Reed and Atlanta Chief of Police George Turner talked about the impact of the fund.
"Two-thousand women and men have a life insurance policy of $100,000 each in the event that they suffer tragedy in the line of work that they perform every single day,” said Reed.
Turner and Reed spoke to the courage each officer shows as they leave their homes each shift.
“Our police officers, when they leave out that door on a Monday, they don't know if they're going to return on a Friday because when shots are fired, unlike us, we run away from the sound of shots, they run towards those shots,” said Reed. “I want to thank you for the peace of mind that you give our officers when they walk out that door every single day.”
The families of Atlanta police officers Shawn Smiley and Richard Halford were among the latest to receive help from the fund. The officers died in a 2012 helicopter crash while on duty.
“Unfortunately, in my 33 years on the police department, I've seen many deaths in our department; and the love that this church provided to the APD family was second to none,” said Turner.
