On July 23rd, 2018, while simply taking a morning walk, 5 year old Delaney Gaddis and her grandmother, Deborah Limmer, were struck and killed by a 22 year old intoxicated driver. Delaney’s father, Brian, is a Baltimore County Police Officer and a Brothers Before Others member. Late last year, Brothers Before Others Founder and President Michael Burke, along with members of BBO, FOP Lodge 4 and the Baltimore County Police Department presented Brian and his wife, Jennifer, […]

Earlier this month, the Philadelphia Police Department removed 72 police officers from the streets amid an unprecedented investigation into the officers’ social media postings. According to virtually every new report, many will be disciplined and even more will face termination. Now, let me be clear here. Hate speech is hate speech. Inappropriate behavior is inappropriate behavior, regardless of the source; and it’s that last part that has me a little confused. I could literally go on […]

Many of our haters (especially the lazy ones) will key in on our charity’s name and baselessly try to spin it into something exclusionary. Truth is, ‘Brothers Before Others’ simply refers to the concept of police officers taking care of police officers. A healthy and cared for police officer is beneficial to the entire community, both sworn and civilian. As a national charity, Brothers Before Others is essentially a microcosm of the law enforcement community […]

Over the weekend, Proud Pigs from all corners of the map assembled in Bradford, New Hampshire to defend their title while taking part in the annual DARE softball tournament. For the second year in a row, the Pigs ran the table, extending their tournament winning streak to 12 games. You would think THAT would be the story. Well, you’d also be wrong. Every year that our charity has traveled to New Hampshire to participate in […]

With National Police Week fully in our rearview mirror, we wanted to take a moment to reflect and highlight some of the more noteworthy experiences. Most of the events surrounding Police Week, especially those for line of duty death families, are ‘C.O.P.S.’ driven. Inevitably, the families will hear the officers talking about ‘Tent City’, which is the name given to the three day event sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1, featuring countless […]

As a charity dedicated to supporting police officers and their families, the members of Brothers Before Others have had the honor of meeting some amazing people. We’ve seen strength beyond measure. We’ve witnessed benevolence for the sake of benevolence. We watched families healing other families by simply standing with them at some of life’s most trying times. However, just when you’d think we’ve seen it all, let me introduce you Carol Stenquist. Since 2000, Carol […]

Sacrifice is defined in part as suffering a loss of, giving up of, renouncing, injuring , or destroying one’s self, especially for an ideal or belief. Over the individual course of our members’ careers as sworn/retired police officers, but especially since the formation of Brothers Before Others in 2014, we have all borne witness to the selflessness of those who protect this country, both home and abroad. Originally set up as a National Flower Fund, ensuring […]

A lot has been made lately over the image of law enforcement. Departments are spending more time and money ensuring that their police officers are approachable and friendly than they are on ensuring that they are well trained. If you are a citizen, legal or otherwise, anywhere in America, rest assured that your local police department is very concerned about your emotions. Police administration would love to hear all your feelings about their cops; wasting […]

The American police officer is no stranger to delusional accusations and biased mischaracterizations. They’re also no stranger to the pandering that almost always accompanies them. Welcome to the new norm; where being the first to the top of the moral hypocrisy mountain is more important than one’s own morality. The last few weeks have seen some concerning trends in regards to this. Law enforcement has always been a ‘soft target’ in this arena. Police officers […]

Founded in 2014, Brothers Before Others had the goal of sending a floral arrangement to the services for every line of duty death in the country, no matter where in the country they occurred. Not only have we met that goal, but since that time we’ve grown into so much more. We’ve been able to make connections with so many families and hear face to face stories of our fallen that could humble anyone. From […]