Criteria for Inclusion

A law enforcement officer is a government employee who is responsible for the prevention, investigation, apprehension, or detention of individuals suspected or convicted of criminal offenses.

Duty status is not limited to active duty; officers who are on leave, retired , terminated or any other status will are eligible.

The term “suicide” refers to a law enforcement officer who has died by their own hand.

An officer shall be included if a department or family states that the officer died as a result of a suicide and there is no information to believe otherwise.  Retired and terminated officers are also eligible for inclusion.

Extenuating circumstances may be reviewed by the Blue H.E.L.P. for inclusion on a case-by-case basis.

Once an officer is submitted via the online submission form, a member of the Blue H.E.L.P. staff will begin the verification process.

While ALL suicides are counted and should be reported, not all will have their names and faces on the Blue H.E.L.P. page because:

1. The families have not given permission/ are not ready;
2. They were investigation or indictment for a significant criminal offense;
3. It was a murder/suicide;
4. Blue H.E.L.P. has not been made aware of the death.

If an officer is cleared of an investigation post-mortem, their name and face may be displayed on the Blue H.E.L.P. site.

All information is held in the strictest of confidence unless the family gives written consent to use their name and likeness.

First H.E.L.P. Memorial Wall of Service Criteria for Inclusion

First Responder

For the purpose of the First H.E.L.P. Memorial Wall of Service, “First Responder” means an individual involved in crime control or reduction, fire, EMS, dispatch, and who is directly employed on a full-time basis by a local, county, state or federal law enforcement agency of the United States or its territories, with or without compensation, who is duly sworn and has full arrest powers.

The Emergency Medical Technician / Paramedic means an individual who assesses injuries, administers emergency medical care, transports injured or sick persons to medical facilities.

A 911 Telecommunicator means an individual responsible for specialized work in the receiving, prioritizing, and dispatching of emergency and non-emergency telephone calls through the police/fire communications system. 911 Telecommunicators are responsible for aiding emergency callers to establish composure in order to obtain essential information to document and dispatch the appropriate emergency personnel.

A firefighter is defined as one whose duties include fire suppression, fire investigation, or fire police activities.

A law enforcement officer is a government employee who is responsible for the prevention, investigation, apprehension, or detention of individuals suspected or convicted of criminal offenses. Officers serving with private or state colleges and universities, and railroads will also be included, provided they are recognized as having law enforcement status by state, U.S. or District of Columbia Code, are duly sworn, trained and certified, with full arrest powers.

Correctional employees shall be included if they are recognized as having law enforcement status by their employing jurisdiction. Other correctional employees who do not have formal law enforcement status but who do have a primary or limited responsibility for the custody and security of suspected or convicted criminal offenders, and are employed by a local, county, state or federal correctional agency, will also be considered. If law enforcement is not a person’s primary function (for example, correctional employees such as Maintenance Supervisor, Farm Manager, Food Service Instructor and the like), then that person is not eligible for inclusion.

Date of death occurred on or after January 1, 1950.

They were actively employed on a full-time, part-time, volunteer, or contract basis by a local county, state, or federal agency, with or without compensation, to provide primary emergency medical care for an organized jurisdiction having authority. Duty status is not limited to active duty; first responders who were on leave, retired, terminated or of any other status are eligible.

First responders shall be included if a department or family states that the officer died as a result of a suicide and there is no information to believe otherwise.

Extenuating circumstances may be reviewed by the First H.E.L.P. for inclusion on a case-by-case basis.

Evidence and other documents you’ll need to provide 

• Proof of employment as first responder.
• Death certificate showing suicide as a cause

An applicant will not be considered if he or she:

• Engaged in murder suicide at the time of death.
• Under investigation at time of death. If the first responder is clear posthumously, they can be considered.

Criteria for Inclusion as a Military Veteran

A veteran is a person who served in the active Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marines or Coast Guard and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.

Requirements

Six months of active-duty deployment overseas or military operations, other than war. This includes things like National Guard and reserve mobilization, both in country and overseas and some non-combat deployments. Basic training (boot camp) does not count as active-duty service.

For members of the U.S. National Guard or Reserves. To be considered a veteran the discharge status must also be other than dishonorable, but the actual service must include being called up to active-duty service. These applicants must have completed basic training plus 6 months of active-duty service.

Date of death occurred on or after January 1, 2000.

An applicant will not be considered if he or she:

• Was serving in the U.S. armed forces at the time of death.
• Had never engaged in active duty (including basic training) in the U.S. armed forces.
• Was a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) student or a cadet or midshipman at a service academy.
• Was a National Guard or Reserves enlistee activated only for training purposes.
• Was engaged in active duty in the U.S. armed forces but released under dishonorable conditions.
• Engaged in murder suicide at the time of death.
• Under investigation at time of death. If the veteran is clear posthumously, they can be considered.

Evidence and other documents you’ll need to provide 

• Retirement records. These include retirement orders and the Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer.
• VA decision notice giving veteran status
• DD214

Who may submit a name

Names can be submitted by any family member; approval for them to appear on the wall resides with surviving family members in this order. The surviving spouse must have been married and living with the first responder/veteran at the time of death. If they were separated, the authority lies with the children. If there is no surviving spouse or children, authority lies with the parents, etc.

1. Surviving Spouse (not divorced)
2. Children
3. Parents
4. Siblings
5. Grandparents
6. Aunts/Uncle
7. Niece/Nephew

If there are no surviving family members and a name is submitted, we will honor them if they are submitted by the department or a friend.