While Police Week in D.C. honors officers killed in the line of duty, one nonprofit is shining a light on a different group — officers who survive serious injuries but feel left behind by the very departments they served.
Randy Sutton, a retired police lieutenant from Nevada, said he was abandoned by his department after suffering a stroke inside his police car. That experience motivated him to help found the Wounded Blue seven years ago.
He said officers began reaching out to him with stories that mirrored his own.
Since starting the organization, Sutton said Wounded Blue has helped thousands of officers — whether it’s with physical care or peer support for officers who have been shot, stabbed, beaten or run over.
A big focus, Sutton said, is suicide prevention. According to its website, the group’s motto is “never forgotten, never alone.”
“Many of the officers that we deal with have been injured either because of gunfights, because of traffic accidents, fights with suspects,” Sutton told WTOP.
“Unfortunately, many police officers who are severely injured in the line of duty are given subpar medical treatment.”
One of Wounded Blue’s biggest donors is someone Sutton calls “the voice on the phone.”
It’s an anonymous benefactor from the West Coast who he has never met in person but speaks with regularly. Sutton said the donor has provided million of dollars to help fund treatment.
Dr. Ehsan Jazini, an orthopedic spine surgeon at the Virginia Spine Institute in Reston, has spoken to that anonymous donor about providing care to both officers and members of the military who find themselves in similar situations.
“He’s very involved with these families and understands what they’ve been through,” Jazini said.
One of those cases involved an officer from Texas named Tim who just wanted to be able to walk his daughter down the aisle.
Jazini said many of the officers who come to him have been misdiagnosed or bounced between providers “with no good answer.” He called it an “honor” to help people through the organization.
“It’s just incredible to be able to be a part of that, and for me to do my part as a surgeon and just try to do what I can do to help get these patients back to their life,” Jazini said.
“You’re taking care of people who are taking care of the people who are our most vulnerable members of society.”
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