Cook Group donates $1M to police charity in officers' honor

Supporters of an Indiana police charity came to a ceremony in Indianapolis Wednesday expecting to see a presentation of a donation.\nNever did Lt. Greg Butler, training coordinator for the IU Police Department, imagine the donation would be $1 million.\nConcerns of Police Survivors is an organization that provides money to families whose relatives were officers killed in the line of duty. At a bike charity event for the organization last month, Indiana State Police Recruit Academy Commander Lt. Gary Dudley and Lake County Sheriff's Department Chief Gary Martin were killed in Vermillion County when a truck crashed into the support vehicle driving behind them, causing the vehicle to crash into the riders.\nWednesday morning, Cook Group Inc., whose headquarters are located in Bloomington, announced a $1 million donation to COPS, the organization Dudley and Martin so heavily supported.\nButler, who was part of the charity event, was nothing but grateful. \n"This is unprecedented for COPS to receive a donation like this," Butler said. "I don't think (anyone) ever expected someone to make a $1 million donation." \nCook Group Inc. is the world's largest privately owned manufacturer of medical devices, said David McCarty, director of public relations for Cook Group Inc. The group has over 6,000 employees worldwide.\nMcCarty said the organization felt this was something they wanted to support. \n"I think the benefit that (COPS) brings to the state of Indiana as a whole warranted the size of the donation that we made," he said. \nThe donation made more people aware of COPS's existence and what the organization does, Butler said.\n"Unfortunately it did bring COPS attention in the community that it hadn't been before," he said. "That (Bill Cook) would do this is amazing for us." \nButler said they consider the family members survivors because they have to deal with the loss of a loved one.\n"Each officer leaves behind a family of some sort," he said. "It's a hard adjustment for them to kiss their husband goodbye for work, and before the end of the day he's gone. There's a lot of attention that needs to be given to those families."\nThough Butler did not know exactly what the money from the donation would go toward, he said much of the money COPS receives goes toward covering a family's lost income, professional counseling and a means for the family to attend a national ceremony in May. \nThe ceremony, part of National Police Week in Washington, D.C., includes a law enforcement memorial where names of those killed are shown on a wall to honor those who died, Butler said. \n"Sometimes these families have no means or money to attend the ceremony," Butler said. "COPS ensures they are there for that moment. Next May Dudley and Martin's names will be on that wall." \nMcCarty said the donation at Wednesday's ceremony was a pleasant surprise for the people there, which included members from COPS, Gov. Mitch Daniels and the widows of Dudley and Martin. \nButler emphasized that he saw strong character in the men who were killed \nin the process of helping others. \n"Mr. Cook saw that this is a significant tragedy, that...men would sacrifice their lives trying to help others in this way," Butler said. "He felt … the compassion those officers felt. And God bless him for it. Because he didn't have to do that"