COPSWalk fundraiser continues to support families of fallen officers by walking

Walking 25 miles is likely the easiest part of Deputy Dee Patterson's fundraising efforts. 

The hardest part is knowing that every year she does the COPSWalk, means officers continue to lose their lives in the line of duty.   

"When I walked last year, I walked for Dave Baldwin and Sean Renfro, who were officers with our department that were my friends," Patterson said.  

Patterson, who works as an investigator for the sheriff's office, has been in law enforcement for nearly 20 years. 

The COPSwalk is one way she can make sure the families of her fellow fallen officers are taken care of.  

C.O.P.S. or Concerns of Police Survivors, is a national non-profit that supports families, who have lost a loved one in the line of duty. 

This year, Patterson was able to recruit deputy Wendy Fehringer, a fellow investigator with Jefferson County.  

"Wendy and I get up, we meet here at 4:45 a.m. and we work out together, it's a little cold outside right now," Patterson laughed. 

When it's warm, you can catch Patterson and Fehringer taking a two mile lap around the county offices. 

Patterson says she tries to average between seven and eight miles a day.

"It's very important to me," she said.  

So far, the deputies have raised more than $5,000, which all go to support the families of the fallen soldiers.

This year, they are walking to honor fallen Arvada police officer Dillon Vakoff. The 27-year-old was killed on Sept. 11, 2022, while responding to a disturbance.  

"Dillon, I never had the opportunity to meet but his motto, 'that others may live,' it's like a thread, it's like a thin blue line that holds us together and really shows what we're all about. Dave Baldwin, Sean Renfro, Eric Talley, Gordon Beesley - they all believed the same thing. That others may live. That's why we do this job and I don't want their families forgotten," Patterson said.

Funds go toward counseling services for adults and children as well as programs for children and young adults. To learn more, click here: https://bit.ly/3QCPYnB

If you would like to support the Jefferson County deputies in their efforts, you can click here: https://bit.ly/3H0i493

COPSWalk will be heading to Arizona on Feb. 24 to begin its two-day, 25-mile fundraising walk.