There’s a scene from the Tom Hanks movie, “Forrest Gump”, where Forrest watches Jenny throw rocks at an abandoned house that represents a painful memory from her past. In a moment of seemingly simple minded analysis, Forrest realizes that no amount of thrown rocks will ever undo the hurt that has been done. This past weekend, Brothers Before Others hosted a memorial dedication in honor of 5 year old Delaney Gaddis and her grandmother, Deborah […]

‘Fidelis ad mortem‘. Faithful unto death. This is the motto of the New York City Police Department. If you’ve been a cop long enough in anywhere USA, there’s a good chance you’ve heard someone joke at some point about the job being ‘dead’, usually in response to poor leadership, an unpopular management decision and almost always accompanied by an eye-roll. After today’s decision made by the NYPD’s gutless Commissioner James O’Neill to bow to political pressure […]

Tomorrow, at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, New Jersey, law enforcement members and Brothers Before Others members from all over the country, will be gathering to join friends and family in mourning the loss of Asbury Park Police Detective, April Bird. Greg Holden sings an apropos song titled “Hold On Tight”. In it, he says: “I’ll try not to complain about the things I have lost. Because, when you have something great that just means there’s a greater loss..”   And so it […]

Regardless of your age, sex, race, religion or even chosen profession, there is very likely a support group dedicated to the care and specific concerns of whatever you’re looking for; and so it goes for Brothers Before Others. Started in 2014 by retired NYPD Police Officer Michael Burke, BBO was intended to serve as a National Flower Fund, ensuring that every line of duty death, no matter where they happened in the country, was honored […]

Whether you are a baseball fan or not, there’s a good chance you heard whisperings about the epic meltdown that New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone unleashed last week. In defense of what Aaron deemed a wide strike zone resulting in some bad calls against HIS guys, he let loose an expletive filled tirade famously referring to his players as “savages in that box” (referring to the batters box). Again, we caution you, instruct the […]

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 […]