Thursday, February 28, 2013

Law Enforcement Ambassador & Guardian Spotlight: Bill Swank

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund enjoys the support of a special group of volunteers: Law Enforcement Ambassadors and Guardians. Law Enforcement Ambassadors are active and retired law enforcement officers from city, state, federal and military law enforcement agencies, while Law Enforcement Guardians are volunteers who support and honor law enforcement but are not sworn officers, allowing citizens, family members and corporate supporters to work closely with the Memorial Fund in achieving our goals.

Bill Swank is the kind of guy everyone would like to know. His positive energy is not only contagious, but plentiful. Bill is a longtime law enforcement professional who has held positions as a county deputy sheriff, city police officer, and now a United States federal agent (Federal Air Marshal, U.S. Department of Homeland Security). This well-known and highly respected member of the law enforcement community is now the newest member of the Law Enforcement Ambassador & Guardian program.   

Late in 2012, Bill—who owns one of the largest  collections of police badges, patches, uniforms, and memorabilia—began volunteering his time to work with our Museum Programs staff. Soon Bill expressed an interest in doing more for the Memorial Fund and Museum campaign—and it didn’t take long for him to apply and be accepted as our newest Ambassador.  

Bill immediately jumped into action and connected with longtime Ambassador Brent Clark to help plan a Law Enforcement Appreciation Event in Cleveland, Ohio with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, which turned out to be an exceptional event. In addition, Bill arranged important meetings with Chiefs of Police, Sheriff’s Office personnel, and the Ohio State Department of Public Safety, as well as coordinated introductions and meetings with representatives of businesses and corporations headquartered in the Columbus metro area—all in efforts to raise awareness and promote support for the Memorial Fund. We look forward to seeing those efforts pay off, and hope more Ohio agencies and businesses will get involved in the Museum campaign.

The Memorial Fund is proud to have Bill Swank as a Law Enforcement Ambassador. We look forward to working with him for many years to come. Thank you, Bill, for your leadership, dedication, and support of the law enforcement profession!