 Police Foundation of Colorado Springs is excited to announce a 2022 fundraising effort for the benefit of former officer Cem Duzel and his fiancée, Layne who are going to be married in August. Details will be shared at a press event on March 2, 2022 at 11 a.m. at the Pioneers Museum gazebo.
On August 2, 2018, officers responded to a call for shots fired. Officer Cem Duzel was one of the first officers arriving on scene and approached the suspect. At that time, the suspect began firing shots at Officer Duzel and he was hit with one single shot to the head. This was a life-changing event and Duzel spent months in a local hospital and then a year at a rehabilitation hospital in Denver before being released to his family home in New York to continue daily strenuous physical and challenging speech therapies. At the Medal of Valor Luncheon, which was held in November of 2019, Officer Duzel was awarded the Purple Heart and Medal of Honor for his courage and heroism in stopping an active threat in a neighborhood before the suspect could harm innocent community members. Duzel continues to improve each day as he works hard toward his new normal. Unfortunately, due to the severity of his injuries, Cem was medically retired from the Colorado Springs Police Department.  Photo courtesy of www.tioutdoors.com Police Foundation of Colorado Springs (PFCS) is honored to support the Colorado Springs Police Department’s purchase of its newest major training asset available to local and regional law enforcement officers – a state-of-the-art training simulator housed at the Colorado Springs Police Department Academy. The new simulator places officers in high-stress, realistic scenarios that emphasize de-escalation techniques and provide representative experiences to prepare officers for real-life situations.
Beginning in fall of 2019, Police Foundation of Colorado Springs committed to fundraising more than $147,000 to purchase an industry-leading training simulator to replace the department’s former 6-year old system in need of critical updates.  Greg Welch is the new chairman of Police Foundation of Colorado Springs. He succeeds Kyle Hybl who has served as PFCS chairman since the nonprofit organization was formed in 2010.
“I’m honored to be named chairman of Police Foundation of Colorado Springs,” said Welch. “Kyle’s ceaseless efforts to grow PFCS and his leadership contributions to the organization have benefitted the Colorado Springs Police Department and Colorado Springs residents during the past 10 years. I look forward to working with our board of trustees to further enhance the organization’s support to our police officers.” Campaign will raise funds for personal protective equipment.
It’s time we do something to protect the people who put themselves in harm’s way to protect others. This is the collective sentiment behind the creation of The Protect Effect, an effort to keep police officers, sheriff’s deputies and firefighters safe in the line of duty. “We feel safe knowing that, if something goes wrong, first responders will be there to help. They provide our safety net. But, we rarely stop to consider the dangers they face in doing their jobs,” said Meredith Vaughan, wife of a Colorado Springs Fire Department Captain and the CEO of advertising agency Vladimir Jones (VJ). “It’s time to step up and support the foundations that support our first responders.”  Police Foundation of Colorado Springs, in collaboration with Shield616, has raised more than $400,000 in just under one year to help ensure the safety of Colorado Springs police officers.
PFCS announced in March 2017 that it was embarking on a two-year fundraising effort to help purchase tactical vest packages for all 685 Colorado Springs police officers. The Foundation, working with Shield616, met its fundraising goal in less than 12 months thanks to incredible community and local business support. |
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