A Dallas police officer hopes to help save the lives of the cops who keep him safe in his hometown.
Dallas Police Department Sr. Cpl. Eric Knight lives in the Denton County town of Sanger and is organizing a fundraiser for Saturday at HK Bar Ranch where 100 percent of the proceeds go to support the local police departments.
“There’s an officer killed like every 52 hours in the United States. And they’re not all big-city cops,” Knight said about his motivation to raise money to buy better body armor for officers with the Sanger and Denton police departments.
Knight said he was impressed with the generosity of officers from Sanger, Denton and dozens of other police departments from across the state who came to Dallas in the wake of the July 7 ambush to help out.
“We had cops from all over helping us. I think San Antonio sent 60 officers up,” Knight said. “And it wasn’t, ‘Hey, we’ll do this.’ It’s, ‘What do you need?’ And they filled in, they back-filled in our gaps for us and allowed our officers time to grieve.”
Sanger has 13 police officers, each of whom is equipped with a Level IIIA ballistic vest, which is designed to stop pistol rounds. Money raised from Saturday's fundraiser will go to purchase trauma plates for the vest, which are designed to stop rifle rounds.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Chief Curtis Amyx, of the Sanger Police Department. “Any outside help is appreciated. Any extra protection we have is beneficial for the officer.”
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Despite what one might assume, given the size of the respective cities, Knight said he believes the officers in Sanger are in more danger on a regular basis that officers in Dallas are.
“One of [Dallas’] main pluses is our backup is close. We have 3,500 officers. Someone’s gonna be there within a couple minutes,” Knight said. “But up here [in Sanger] the danger factor is, to me, a little bit more because you are kind of by yourself. And you don’t ride two men [in a car.] You’re one person. My cousin is a State Trooper in east Texas. He covers 900 square miles. It’s him [alone.]”
