In this special episode, we turn the tables on Heroes Behind the Badge founder Craig Floyd, making him the guest instead of the host. Join Dennis Collins and Bill Erfurth as they explore the remarkable 34-year journey of the man who built America's National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum from the ground up.

Featured Guest

Craig Floyd - Founding CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (1984-2018), Founder and President of Citizens Behind the Badge, recipient of the John Ashcroft Distinguished Service Award

Key Topics Covered

The Beginning (1980s)

• Working as legislative assistant to Congressman Mario Biaggi, NYC's most decorated police officer
• How a simple congressional project became a lifetime mission
• The pivotal meeting with survivor Vivian Ney that changed everything

Building the Memorial (1984-1991)

• Starting with just $44,000 raised in two years when millions were needed
• Nearly losing congressional authorization after struggling with fundraising
• Learning from Vietnam Memorial creator Jan Scruggs about full-time commitment
• The 1991 dedication ceremony with 25,000 attendees

Creating Police Week Traditions

• Origins of the candlelight vigil in 1989 with Susie Sawyer
• Growth from 125 people at first ceremony to 40,000 today
• The Police Unity Tour and its $40 million in donations
• Supporting 6,000 survivors annually through grief counseling and ceremonies

The Museum Challenge (1998-2018)

• 20-year journey to raise over $100 million
• Multiple moments of near-failure and last-minute saves
• Motorola Solutions' $18 million donation breakthrough
• Bill Bratton calling it "the house that Craig Floyd built"

Personal Memories & Impact

• The Griffiths brothers becoming Boston police officers after their brother's line-of-duty death
• Martha Wood dancing with a young survivor at the memorial
• The memorial growing from 12,561 names to nearly 25,000 today

Modern Mission (2020-Present)

• Launching Citizens Behind the Badge during the "defund the police" movement
• Continuing advocacy work in retirement
• Receiving the John Ashcroft Distinguished Service Award in 2025

Notable Quotes

"If a letter of condolence would mean that much to a survivor, what would a national monument mean?" - Craig Floyd on meeting Vivian Ney

"I got to meet thousands of officers. I got to meet the survivors of the fallen, got to know their families really well, got to know their loved one who died really well, even though I'd never met them." - Craig Floyd

"It took a village to make the memorial, the museum and everything else we did happen." - Craig Floyd

How to Support

• Visit CitizensBehindtheBadge.org to sign the Declaration of Support
• Subscribe to Heroes Behind the Badge podcast
• Donate to Citizens Behind the Badge advocacy efforts
• Attend Police Week ceremonies in Washington, DC (May 12-15 annually)

Hey, it's good to see you again.

Welcome back to another episode of Heroes Behind the Badge.

We tell real stories about real cops.

We expose the fake news about the police, and we bring you the real stories.

Hi, I'm Dennis Collins, your host.

I'm the founding director of Citizens Behind the Badge and

a proud law enforcement father.

And a reminder, this podcast is brought to you by Citizens Behind the Badge.

Citizens Behind the Badge is the leading voice of the American people in support

of the men and women of law enforcement.

Citizens behind the Badge org.

Citizens Behind the Badge do org.

Check us out.

We'd love to have you get involved.

Today I'm joined as always by my colleagues, Mr. William Erfurth.

Hello, Mr. Erfurth.

Hello Dee.

How are you, sir? Good, good, good.

Uh, bill is a 26 year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

He retired as a lieutenant and he has a very interesting storied

and highly decorated career.

Someday we may do an episode on that.

I dunno that No, can't do that.

He's been censored.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That wouldn't be, that wouldn't be allowed to be published, I guess.

Okay.

And of course, our fearless leader, the founder, CEO, and President

of Citizens Behind the Badge.

Mr. Craig Floyd.

Hello Craig.

Welcome back.

Good to be with you both, Billy and Dennis.

Always a pleasure.

Uh, I know.

Billy gets upset when we don't do this.

So this is a reminder that if you like anything you hear on any of our

podcasts, do us a favor, hit subscribe.

Follow like one, two, or all three.

That way you'll be the first to know when a new episode releases, okay?

And we're trying to release as many as possible and we have got for you lined

up some really interesting guests.

And if you check back to session one and listen on from there, you're

gonna be, uh, amazed, some really good people with some really deep insights.

So today we have something special Today, the host becomes the guest.

Yes, one of our hosts, Mr. Craig Floyd.

We're gonna turn the tables on Craig today.

He will become today's guest.

How about that?

Did, and you knew this, Craig, Greg, did we tell you or did we try to surprise you?

Had a little heads up.

We were sipping some, uh, beverages and, uh, you leak.

Yeah.

You were afraid.

Yeah.

Leak.

Think we were He's a leaker.

Yeah.

Had a leaker.

Oh, don't start that rumor.

Yeah.

We were having a nice stokey and a little bit of libations and I

probably, I was supposed to keep it a secret, but I didn't, so

sorry about in Washington, DC Yeah.

Yeah.

Well imagine that all places in the swamp a weaker Yeah.

Imagine a week in the, the swamp.

Yeah.

That never happens, does it?

Okay, so, so let me tell you about, a little bit about, you've

seen Craig on these podcasts.

Many of you know Craig because he founded the National Law Enforcement Officer's

Memorial Fund, uh, many years ago.

But let me tell you a little bit about the person.

Craig Floyd Craig is a lifelong resident of the Washington DC area.

He was born and grew up in Maryland, and he graduated from George

Washington University, JU in DC just a few blocks from the White House.

He's married to the lovely Veronica.

He has two children and two grandchildren.

Here's the fun fact about Craig as a kid.

His dad taught him a lot of things, but one of the most interesting things

was how to throw a wicked curve ball.

Yeah, a wicked curve ball legend has it that very few high school

or college baseball players could ever hit that curve ball.

He was the ace pitcher all throughout his high school and college career,

but back in those days, they weren't quite as aware as they are now of

protecting the pitcher's arm and once.

He actually pitched both ends of a double header.

Yes.

Both ends according to the facts that I have.

And the arm lost to both.

Yeah.

Unfortunate and unfortunately lost his arm too.

So any, any hopes of a pro career we're, we're dashed.

When, when Craig's not working hard on citizens behind the badge work and

heroes behind the badge work or spending time with his family, you will be

sure to catch him on the golf course.

I think he's a pretty good golfer.

What we should do one day is have, uh, Billy and Craig have a golf playoff.

They both are golfers.

I am not.

I will keep score.

Okay guys, so that's a little bit about Craig, the person now.

Craig the professional 34 years.

He was the founding CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

He retired in 2018 after leading a successful 20 year campaign to build the

law enforcement museum, which is right across the street in DC from the memorial

during Police week of 2025 on May 13th, the night of the candlelight vigil.

Craig was honored and awarded the highest honor that is bespoke bestowed

by the Memorial Fund, the John Ashcroft Distinguished Service Award.

This was at a VIP reception in front of the board of directors and

all the name readers and the VIPs attending the candlelight vigil.

It was my honor to be present.

To watch in person as he received this prestigious and well deserved recognition.

So today, uh, Billy and I will ask him about how all this started.

He was there at the very beginning.

We'll do a review of police week 2025.

There are many events, not just the candlelight vigil, that's kind of the

signature event, but there are many things that go on during police week.

And of course, we'd like to cover the many memorable moments of his 34 year service

to law enforcement and the memorial fund.

So first of all, Craig.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

On your decades of service to the law enforcement community,

uh, which appreciated.

And, and let me just say, it was an honor and a

pleasure to have you there with me, uh, when we received that award.

And I know Bill was, um, at a family event and couldn't be there.

It was, but, uh, meant a lot to have family and friends,

uh, with me that evening.

Uh, all the more special for sure.

Well, you know, uh, your wife and your family and your

friends, uh, were sworn to secrecy.

As you might know.

We wanted this to be a surprise for you.

Uh, and when I walked into the reception, uh, you were chatting

with somebody, I tapped you on the back and you turned around and say,

what the hell are you doing here?

You had, yeah, here.

Yeah, you said, well, you know, we had talked a lot prior to police week, and

if I was coming, I would've told you.

Right.

But you said, uh, so when did, when did you kind of, when did you kind of figure

out, I know you were there as a name reader, you were gonna be at the BIP

reception anyway, but when did you figure out this might be a little different?

You know, it, it's funny, um, I got an email from Bill Alexander.

He's the current CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund.

Right.

And he had called me one day, you know, a month, six weeks before the vigil and

said, you know, he'd like me to be a name reader, which was interesting because.

The prelude to him asking me to be a name reader.

He was complaining in, in a good way about all the people that wanted to

be name readers and how is he possibly gonna get that many people on stage and,

and, uh, that many names to be read.

Um, and then he said, but we want you to be a name reader.

And I'm like.

Why squeeze me in when you've got all these other people.

And I told him, actually, I had planned a trip to the outer banks, uh, that

week and, and would not be here.

Uh, and when I told him that, I could just hear it in his voice that, you

know, that was very disappointing to him.

And, and, uh, he kind of pressed me a little harder.

And, you know, the more I thought about it, the more I said, you know, I haven't

been to a candlelight vigil in six years.

And, um, I, I should turn down this very, um, uh, nice invitation, very

gracious invitation to be part of the candlelight vigil, which, um,

started back in 1989 and I'd been to right, you know, more than 30 of them.

Um, so a, anyway, he sends me an email right before the candlelight

vigil and reminds name readers.

Where to show up and et cetera.

And in that email he says, uh, by the way, we're gonna be giving out

three awards, our annual awards that evening at the VIP reception.

And the honorees have already been informed as to who they are so they can

be prepared to give a, a few, uh, remarks.

And, uh, so I never thought anything else about it.

I had my names, I was gonna read names, and that was gonna be it.

And I show up.

Right.

And, uh, I see my family, uh, some of whom were not planning

to attend as far as I knew.

I saw some other friends.

I saw you, and I put it all together.

I said, something's up here.

And then that was, something's up a very sneaky way that Bill, uh, that

presented it to me and surprised me.

Yeah.

Well,

I'm,

I'm Craig Craig, the big Lifetime

Achievement Award, which is amazing for sure.

So, uh, you know, I. You're at the candlelight vigil, or the candlelight

vigil is gonna be that evening and you're gonna read the names.

And I just think for everybody that's listening to, uh, the show, let's

talk about the candlelight vigil a little bit just to give a reference.

And it's, uh, you know, I, I, the times I've been there, 20, 30, 40,000 people

we're jammed into the memorial site where the names are inscribed on the walls.

They're holding up the candles.

It's an amazing visual.

Visual for sure.

And then the main stage with the dignitaries and, and whomever are

up there reading the names of the individuals that will be inscribed

on the walls for this past year.

Uh, the new, the new names.

And I believe there's.

Upwards to almost 25,000 names on there right now.

So I wanted to give a, a reference to that.

And then there's this VIP reception just prior to that.

It's quite an event.

It's a spectacular event.

Maybe describe the scene, the location.

Uh, I, I know for years, uh, it was always at the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

It got so big that it was taken out to the, uh, the National Mall

in from the Capitol building.

Is that still the case?

Let's go back to the beginning because, uh, in 1982, that's

when ceremony started to occur During National Police Week in Washington DC

it was the Fraternal Order of Police.

They organized, uh, along with their auxiliary, a Peace Officer's Memorial

Day ceremony on May 15th, uh, at the capitol of grounds, uh, nearby.

And, uh, 125 people showed up at that first ceremony.

It wasn't a big crowd at all.

First time any national ceremony had ever been held.

So it started small and slowly.

Um, and the biggest portion of the crowd, as I remember,

was, uh, a group of Boy Scouts.

Um, I remember Susie Sawyer, who was one of the organizers, called me up.

I was working for Congressman Biaggi at the time, and she knew that every

congressional office had an American flag.

Uh, and we did.

She said, you know, we need an American flag for our ceremony.

Uh, could you loan it to us?

And, and so we did, but I mean, that's how small it started.

Um, very small scale and then it just grew from there.

Um, and, and from nineteen eighty two, a hundred twenty five people to 2025.

30 to 40,000 people attending National Police Week ceremonies.

And I was sitting down one day at a lunch with Susie.

This is before we ever built the National Law Enforcement Officer's memorial, but

we wanted to have a signature event, something that would let people know that

the memorial was in the works that, uh, would soon be dedicated and it would be

a, a special place for law enforcement.

And, uh, the FOP was doing the May 15th service.

And, um, we wanted to do something that wouldn't conflict with them.

So Susie said, you know, in Arizona they do a candlelight vigil

honoring their fallen officers.

Have you ever thought about maybe doing that?

And, uh, so that's how it really started.

One day over lunch in Old Town Alexandria, me and Susie Sawyer came up with the idea.

And, um, 1989 we had our first candle light vigil was on the memorial grounds.

But it was before we even broke ground on the memorial.

Um, and then we, uh, eventually while the memorial was being built,

we moved it across the street.

And, um, and like you said, for many, many years, we held it at the memorial

site and the crowd assembled there got huge, I mean, 30,000 people in

a three acre space is hard to do.

And, and the Park Service eventually told us that, you know, we, we

were, uh, it was a safety hazard.

The fire department was not happy.

Uh, 30,000 people with candles, you know, packed, uh, shoulder to shoulder.

Uh, when the museum construction occurred right across the street, we

lost that space, uh, for the vigil.

So we moved it to the National Mall and, um, the Park Service said, you

know, from now on, you really need to keep it on the mall because it's gotten

too big for the memorial grounds and.

And I think that was a smart move because now we can have more people, more visitors

to Washington, tourists that might not have any idea what's going on, but they

stop, they, they ask questions, and all of a sudden the crowd, uh, swells because

you have these tourists joining in to show their support for law enforcement as well.

And you've got the Capitol on one end, The Washington Monument on the

other makes for a spectacular, uh, space and, and beautiful photograph.

So, um, we, we, that's how it moved to the mall, and that's where it is today.

Yeah.

You know, and the, and the blue lasers representing the thin blue line that

crossed the sky, the, the candlelight, uh, the little candles that everybody's

holding during the candlelight vigil.

It's just a moving, a inspiring moment for sure.

And just one moment of many during National Police Week up there.

And,

and you mentioned the blue laser light that used to be such an

integral part of, uh, our candlelight vigil when we held it at the memorial.

Um, and then we would shine it for the next couple days, uh, and during the

evening hours as people, uh, came to the memorial to reflect on a fallen in loved

one or colleague, um, when we moved it to the mall, unfortunately, um, uh, the,

um, aircraft, uh, limitations prevent you from having any sort of lasers, uh,

shining skyward, uh, with all these planes coming in and out of National Airport.

So, uh, they prevented us from, uh, using the blue laser light any further.

But, uh, it was a, a very, uh, moving and a very powerful part of the

candlelight vigil for many years.

You know, the, the, the, uh, the great thing about the candlelight

vigil is, uh, Craig, uh, unfortunately this year, the weather did not cooperate.

Okay.

Uh, Tuesday, uh, the day of the candlelight vigil, it

didn't stop raining all day.

It started in the morning and it went all afternoon, and we were hoping

it would stop in the evening, and of course it didn't, but that didn't stop.

People did it.

That mall was packed that, I don't know how many thousands, but as far as you

could see, you were up on the stage.

You could probably see a lot further than I could.

I was out in the audience.

But, uh, this is a serious, serious, uh, event that people come to rain or shine.

Rain or shine.

And, and, and I love that.

Um, one year, uh, out of 37, uh, that we've held the candlelight

vigil, uh, it was rained out.

Um, and really it was because it was a thunderstorm that just didn't give up.

Right.

And that was in the year 2000.

But think about that, 37 years and only one time did we ever have to reschedule.

Yeah.

The event.

And, um, you're right.

Uh, it had never rained, uh, throughout the day and throughout the night of

a candlelight vigil it did this year.

But as you said, people came prepared.

They, they knew the weather they were ready was not gonna be good.

They had their, uh, umbrellas, they had their ponchos.

Um, and you know what, there's some 6,000 survivors.

I'm told that were part of this year's events, uh, hosted by the

concerns of police survivors.

And, um, it's grown and grown.

But I mean, these surviving family members, I, I don't, I don't think

there's anything that would've kept them away from this, uh, very moving

tribute to their fallen loved one.

And to them, I think it's important that we understand that these

ceremonies not only honor the falling, but they honor the, the families

and the colleagues of those officers who have died in the line of duty.

'cause their lives have been ripped apart.

And, and this is an important part of the healing process.

I I, I've always felt that, that the candlelight

vigil and the activities of police week were about the survivors.

In fact, I was talking to some people in DC who are residents of DC and they said,

why are all these, uh, buses being driven around, escorted by police motorcycles?

He said, there might be 150, 200 police motorcycles escorting the buses.

Those are the survivors, and they are escorted everywhere.

They go by police and, and they're taken in buses to the different events.

Tell us a little bit about that, because this event, yes, it's to

honor the fallen, but it's really about helping the survivors deal

with what they have to deal with.

I think you have to go back to the airport, uh, when they.

Yes, there, there's some, um, I've never been there to see it in person, but

I've seen the videos and I've heard the stories from those who have been there.

Um, think about it.

These surviving family members come to Washington, DC they're told there's gonna

be some ceremonies, there's gonna be some grief counseling sessions that they should

participate in to help with their healing.

They have no idea what to expect.

I mean, think about it.

How many of us go to a local ceremony of some sort to pay

honor to a group of people?

Um, you know, maybe there's a couple hundred people there.

They're, you know, uh, a stage, a couple speakers, um, and not a huge deal.

But when they come to Washington, they get off that airplane.

They walk, uh, through the airport as they get out of the gate.

They're greeted by a formation of honor guard police, honor guard members who

are standing at attention saluting them as they walk into the airport.

They didn't expect that.

Um, but this is the beginning of what they are about to, to expect and receive.

Um, the idea that there's gonna be honor guards, uh, escorting them, as

you say, uh, they get police escorts from the airport to the Survivor hotels.

Uh, they get police escorts from the survivor hotels to the

candlelight vigil and to the Peace officers Memorial Day service.

Um, it's an amazing, um, experience for them.

And every one of them that I've ever talked to after their first experience

at at Police Week, they are just in awe of, of how they were treated, how

big and and grand the events were, uh, and how special they feel and, and

frankly, what's most important to them.

I think.

Is to be surrounded by other surviving family members.

Yes, true.

So they know they're not alone and they're going through the same grief,

the same, um, uh, emotional trauma.

And all of a sudden there's strength in numbers.

There's strength in knowing that there's other people that have been

through this, and then they talk to the survivors, uh, uh, from earlier

years who have gradually healed.

And they let 'em know, Hey, you know, there's light at the end of

the tunnel that I'm, I'm happy now.

I've, uh, I can smile again.

I can laugh again.

Um, and I'll cherish those memories of my loved one.

But, uh, there is life after, uh, their loved one's death.

And, uh, I think all of that's very important in the healing process.

You know, it's, it's truly during National Police Week, and like

you say from the inception coming off the airplane and the gauntlet of honor

guard, uh, officers escorting them through the airport onto these buses.

The buses are escorted.

There's, there's hundreds, if not thousands of motorcycle cops at the

airport waiting for each busload of, of, uh, surviving families to attend.

But, you know, the, the greatest thing about all that is the, the sense of

honor, the honor, the esprit decor, the camaraderie that exists and, and what that

particular week, that week of National Police Week brings out in everyone.

And you and I have talked about that before.

We've talked about when I first started going and I had gone for years and we

became good friends over the years.

I was so jaded and so, uh, calloused from my job, from all the negativity

of the job and the politics and everything that goes along with that.

But when you go there and you sense that absolute degree of

honor, uh, it, it changes you.

And it's certainly changed, changed me.

And I can tell you it's changed a lot of people.

'cause I, I know countless other law enforcement people that when they went

there for the first time, they went there multiple times thereafter because there

was something about being associated with that, that was regenerative.

It brought you back to the humanity, the reason that you wanted to

do the job to begin with it.

It's a special, special place and a special week

down question.

I remember the, yeah.

I was,

yeah,

go ahead,

Dennis.

Yeah, no, I, i, I, I wanna build on what, uh, Billy just said.

Uh, I was, uh, uh, a manager of radio stations down in Miami, and he

was a, I think he was just maybe an officer, maybe a corporal when I first

met him, you know, he was out there pounding the streets, and he came into

my office, uh, one day looking for donations for the police Olympics.

Right?

You were Olympian, a police hockey Olympian.

And, uh, so naturally, uh, I love to support police.

I did support him.

And then he told me, he says, you've gotta go to Washington, dc Remember

this, Billy, you were passionate.

You said you have to go to see what goes on during police week, how

they honor these fallen officers, and how they treat the survivors.

You won't believe it.

So one year, I, I went with Billy.

I met Craig, met all the people, and I, I, I. I don't think I've

missed too many years ever since.

Uh, because were, like you said.

Yeah.

I,

I knew you'd be hooked,

you know?

Well, you were right.

We can joke with Dennis,

everybody that's good friends with Dennis, we say, you

know, Dennis is cuckoo for cops.

So, you know, like cuckoo for cocoa puff.

So I knew do, he would absolutely be bowl over by going there

and, and Absolutely was.

Totally was.

So Dennis, was your, um, daughter, a law enforcement officer, uh, when you

went to police week for the first time?

I don't think so.

No, I don't think so.

Uh, no.

This, because I met Mr.

Billy back in the, uh, uh, what, eighties, nineties?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mid eighties.

So, yeah.

And my daughter wasn't even born till 83, so Okay.

Making us all feel old.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But she, the, one of the joys of my life.

Is having my daughter, who's now a lieutenant, uh, with a sheriff's

office here in Florida to actually go with her to police week.

And unfortunately, she got a taste of disaster while she

was still in the academy.

One of her academy cohorts, her brother was a motor officer with the sheriff's

office, and he was on a traffic, uh, detail and somebody just rammed into him.

I mean, intentionally killed him.

And so here she is, a recruit, you know, she's in the academy.

This, her, one of her best friends is the sister of this guy.

And all of a sudden she gets a rude awakening of what it's like, the real.

So she went to police week that following year because her, her friends, uh.

Brother was put on the wall.

That was pretty, you know, that's, you know, pretty young in your

career to have to deal with that.

Unfortunately, she's been there two or three other times when

friends of hers have been killed in the line of duty and Yeah.

So, but the, yeah, the honor of my life is to actually go there with her.

That is special.

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

And I remember that.

'cause I, I was there with you guys.

You were, and there's something also to be said about the Wall National

Police Week and how it brings people together, because many of us have

connections to people that we knew and worked with that are on that wall.

I mean, my first five years on the police department, four of my

friends were killed in a line of duty and all of them are on that wall.

So you'll always remember that.

And unfortunately, that wall grows.

Every year.

It's what was described as one of the very few memorials.

That's a living memorial where it changes every year because unfortunately

new names are added every year.

So let's just give the audience a little bit more of a feel and

understanding of National Police Week.

Craig, I know that President Kennedy back during his term, uh, made it

signed into law that May 13th would be National Police Officers Memorial Day,

and it's certainly grown from there.

But talk about.

The events of Police week, starting on the 13th, the 15th, and just, just a

quick encapsulation of what goes on.

And by the way, May 15th is actually Peace Officer's Memorial Day.

Um, and that was, uh, enacted into law back in 1962.

So, but again, as I mentioned earlier, the FOP until they started their ceremony

in 1982 in Washington, there really was no national ceremony to honor Police

Week or Peace Officers Memorial Day, um, it kicks off for the most part, I

think people would, um, say on May 12th.

May 12th is, uh, the day the Police Unity Tour arrives in

Washington DC at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

This is a group of police and survivors of the Fallen who ride bicycles, some

300 miles from, um, uh, different places.

Within the radius of Washington, DC uh, over about three

days, they ride 300 miles.

It's grueling, it's taxing, uh, but it's a very powerful experience.

And that's grown from 18 original riders in 1997 to, um, nearly

3000 participants this year.

Um, and they come to Washington to raise awareness about the, the, uh,

officers who've died in the line of duty.

And they raise a lot of money, uh, to support the National Law

Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Um, since their outset, they've now raised more than $40 million, uh, to

support the Memorial Fund, uh, the museum, the memorial maintenance, and,

and so many of the other programs.

So it's an amazing group of people, and that alone is a, a powerful ceremony

attended by maybe 5,000 or so people.

On May 12th, uh, and that would be the highlight of most, uh, events.

But, uh, during police week, it's just one of many.

Um, on May 13th.

You have the candlelight vigil that we've been talking about.

And you know, I go back to the original candlelight vigil in 1989.

Um, and I had a glimpse, a, a idea that maybe this thing was going to be special

because that first year, even before we had a memorial on the site, uh,

we had some 2000 people that appended that first candlelight vigil in 1989.

And, um, you know, we did it on a, a shoestring, a budget shoes shoestring.

We borrowed microphones and, um, you know, amplifiers and, and, uh, lights

and uh, a stage all donated to us by local law enforcement agencies.

But what we had that first year was a, a replica of one of the stoned panels,

uh, that would be engraved with names.

And we had some sample names inscribed on that sample stone and the survivors

that they went to that stone and they just imagined, you know,

their loved ones name on a national monument, uh, inscribed in stone.

And, uh, I could tell how powerful that was gonna be.

So that was a glimpse of what, what was to come, uh, this year

again, some 30 to 40,000 people attending the candlelight vigil.

Um, and we do read the names, uh, it, when we dedicated the memorial in, um, 1991.

We did a 24 hour names reading every one of the names that was on

that original, uh, Memorial 12,560.

One of them.

Uh, were read over a 24 hour period, uh, read through the night.

You know, we started at noon one day and it didn't end until noon the next.

And people would come at 4:00 AM in the morning and stand at attention as the

name of their colleague was read and, and, uh, the families would be there.

It was so moving, but we said, you know what, uh, every name that we add to

that memorial, since that, uh, 1991, uh, we should give them the same honor.

So every year at the candlelight vigil, we read the names of the new additions.

This year there were 345 new additions to the memorial.

Uh, 145 of those names, or excuse me, 1 47 died last year.

And the, uh, other names that were read, uh, actually died earlier in

history, but were only recently, uh, discovered by the Memorial Fund.

So, um, uh, and that happens every year.

So now May 13th, then May 14th, uh, you have the, um.

Uh, it, it's, it's an amazing ceremony by the national law

enforcement, Emerald Societies.

Um, oh, and they do a pipe and, and drum march from near the capitol to the

memorial where they have a wonderful, uh, ceremony of speeches and music,

uh, musical tribute to the fallen.

Uh, and that's always a highlight for me of, of police wheat.

Also, uh, along those days, we have a canine memorial service now that's

really grown over the years, uh, where we honor the fallen canines, uh, uh, the,

the dogs that provide such an important service to the law enforcement community.

And sometimes those dogs die in the line of duty, right?

And those canines are remembered at the memorial during these services.

And then finally on May 15th.

You have the Peace Officer's Memorial Day service, and that's at, at the US Capitol.

Now, every year, on May 15th, starts at 11:00 AM Usually the president of the

United States is the keynote speaker.

That's become the tradition.

Uh, occasionally the president is out of the country.

Uh, as he was this year, president Trump was at the Middle East.

So, uh, vice President JD Vance actually delivered the keynote address and, and did

an amazing job of honoring and comforting, uh, the survivors that were in attendance.

And again, at that ceremony, as each name of the fallen is red.

They go up, uh, family members do, and place a, uh, flower on a memorial

wreath, which is then transported to the memorial after the ceremony, where

a honor guard, rotating honor guard stands watch, uh, for the fallen.

Uh, it's much like what they do at Arlington National Cemetery

with the changing of the guard.

Uh, very powerful as well.

So these are some of the highlights.

And of course, the concerns of police survivors.

I, I mentioned earlier, provide grief counseling sessions, uh, throughout the

week, uh, for the survivors in attendance.

And that's also a very important part of the week along with the cops.

Kids can't, uh, where a lot of officers ha have just, uh, can't wait

to volunteer and be with the kids of the fallen officers who just have a

grand old time, um, making friends and, and celebrating, uh, police week.

So you mentioned, uh, vice President, JD Vance being there

just, uh, this week, this past week.

And, uh, you were up on the stage, uh, many times throughout, uh, those years.

And I, I just like to share with everybody, you know, back in the day

and Craig's office, he had pictures with every president of the United States,

every F-B-I-C-I-A-D-E-A, every director, every law enforcement, dignitary Craig.

You knew everybody.

And, um, you know, it, it's pretty funny 'cause there's several of my

friends and, and you, you know them, uh, law enforcement, uh, you know.

Veterans Chiefs and whatnot, and they like to fondly refer to you

as the Jesus of law enforcement because, uh, everybody knows you and

everybody respects you and likes you.

And, uh, you have had such an amazing career, such an amazing

impact on so many people and, and on law enforcement across the board.

Uh, somebody that pretty much knows everybody.

And if you don't know 'em, you're one person away from,

from somebody that that does.

And since we're talking about you, let's go back and focus more on

you than, uh, police week now.

And let's get, let's, let's get to the beginning.

So you, you graduated college and, and talk about that.

You probably wanted to be a baseball player, but how'd

you end up on Capitol Hill?

Um, I went to George Washington University and, uh, that's

right near the US Capitol, of course, right in the heart of Washington dc.

I lived there for four years, met my wife there.

Uh, it was a great experience besides just playing baseball.

And, um, I, I was a political science minor.

I majored in journalism.

I, I like to write, uh, but I also liked, uh, Capitol Hill.

I liked politics and that interested me, and I thought it would be,

uh, my skill sets might be well suited for working on Capitol Hill.

Um, and I interned with the Congressman Nick Joe Raha from West Virginia.

Um, but unfortunately when I was graduating, uh, my senior year, uh,

wanted to work on Capitol Hill, but Nick, Joe Rahal wasn't hiring at the time.

So I ended up, uh, going to the Congressional Placement

office, interviewed with a couple members and Mario Biaggi.

Congressman from New York City ended up hiring me.

Uh, I was his legislative assistant for 10 years, and Mario Biaggi

was the, the most decorated cop in New York City history when he

retired from the department in 1965.

Um, I didn't know him when I was interviewing him.

He didn't know me.

We just got by luck, uh, paired together and I.

Something that Destiny, uh, wanted to happen because, um, I learned

a lot about law enforcement through Congressman Biaggi.

His, he, he would tell me all his stories of being a cop in New York

City and, and walking down the street and tapping his, uh, night stick on

the windows of all the shop owners.

And, uh, it was a different time for sure.

But, uh, I got to know law enforcement through Congressman Biaggi, and of course

he was the champion of law enforcement.

So anything that had to do with law enforcement came through our office.

And one of those ideas that they wanted him to champion was to build a national

law enforcement officers memorial.

And, um, I, I was working for him at the time.

That, uh, he introduced legislation.

It became law in 1984 to establish a national law

enforcement officer's memorial.

And, uh, after a couple years of struggling, uh, we figured out how,

what we had to do to get it done.

And I went to him one day and I said, Congressman, if you want this memorial to

get built, I'm gonna have to leave you.

I'm gonna have to go and work full time, uh, with the National Law

Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund.

I hated to leave him because I love the man so much and, and admired him.

But he, he gave me his full blessing.

He said, Craig, absolutely I want that memorial built.

It was probably the most important accomplishment, uh,

of his many years in Congress.

Uh, he told me that many times and he said it publicly.

Uh, it meant so much to him to have a memorial to his profession, uh,

that that was so important to him.

And that's really how I got involved in the beginning.

It was one of many projects.

I was working on for him.

Um, I, I viewed it as a job, nothing more really.

Uh, and then I started to meet the survivors of the fallen.

I started to meet the officers and I had a much different appreciation

for law enforcement and what this memorial would mean to the men

and women in law enforcement.

Uh, Vivian Ney was, um, a person that really, um, made a

difference in my professional life.

She was the survivor of Chris Ney.

He was a sergeant with the US Capitol Police shot and killed in a

training accident by one of his best friends, uh, tragedy like no other.

Um, and I met Vivian.

Uh, she heard me give a speech one day to a group of survivors that she was part of.

Um, telling them about this new memorial that was gonna be built in their honor.

Um, and she called me a couple hours later, very bitterly, um, and, and

upset and said, you know, I, I, those words rang hollow for me because

when my husband died, I, I didn't really have that level of support.

Nobody reached out to me, uh, on a grand scale anyway.

And, um, and I felt alone.

And, um, that touched me.

Uh, and she said, I got, you know, a handful of letters from a couple

members of Congress, and those letters meant so much to her.

And I thought, boy, if a letter of condolence would mean that

much to a survivor, what would a national monument mean?

And that really changed my perspective about what I was about

to do and, and the journey I was on.

Um, it was the privilege of privilege of a lifetime.

Um, I, I was handed it.

And I ran with it.

And, uh, to this day, I, I couldn't be prouder of, uh, the way my

life turned out professionally.

I had no idea I was gonna ever do anything like this.

But we built the National Memorial, we built the National Law Enforcement Museum,

and we became the leaders when it came to promoting Officer Safety and Wellness.

And, uh, I'm very proud of all those achievements and, uh, and, uh, all

the people that I worked with along the way, including both of you.

Um, it means so much to me to this day.

So definitely incredible, incredible achievements, and that's why

you were just honored with the highest award and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

One little question more about that, that I wanna ask.

So, when, when, uh, Congressman Biaggi came up to you and decided

he was going to task you with this.

What was your first reaction?

Was it like, well, why me, or, uh, oh, do I really wanna do this?

Uh, what were you thinking?

I think it, uh, like I said, it was one project among

many that I was tasked with.

Uh, I didn't give a whole lot of thought one way or another to it.

I, I equated somewhat to running a marathon.

Until you get in about halfway through a marathon, you have no

idea what you've gotten into.

Uh, you start to hurt.

Uh, it's painful.

You're, you're like, why did I do this?

Um, and, and to, in many ways, building the memorial and the

museum was like running a marathon.

Like if you knew all the struggles, all the, the, the, uh, hours and, and

days on the road and, and all the work that goes into it, all the hurdles

you have to clear with the review process for a memorial and a museum.

The site selection.

Raising millions of dollars is not easy.

But I had no idea about any of that going into it.

So I, I was going in naive thinking, oh, you know, this, this, we'll get

this memorial built in a couple years and I'll move on to something else.

Um, but, uh, you realize halfway through how hard it is, but it's too,

too far in to turn around, right?

So you're, you're gonna see it through to the end one way or another.

I remember when we were struggling after two years, um, to build the

memorial, they, Congress gave us five years, uh, in order to build that

memorial, or at least to get, uh, ground, uh, breaking, uh, underway.

And if we failed, then we would lose our authorization and we wouldn't

be able to build the memorial.

So two years in, we had raised four $44,000 and we knew we needed

millions and millions of dollars.

So we were struggling with fundraising.

We didn't have a site selected, we didn't have a design.

So I, I, one of our board members said to me, call Jan SPRs, he

built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and asked Jan, um, how he did it.

You know, what were his secrets of success?

Uh, maybe we could learn from him.

And sure enough, I had lunch with Jan.

Uh, he gave me a lot of good tips.

He said, number one, you gotta treat this like a job.

You can't just do it on a volunteer basis while you're doing a million

other things for Congressman Biaggi.

So, uh, we hired Jan. He was our first full-time employee.

He came to us with about six months before he went back to law school.

And, uh, we started raising money through a direct mail campaign.

And then we went to corporations.

And before we knew it, we had a site selected.

We had a great design designed by Davis Buckley, uh, an architect

that Jan introduced me to.

And, um, you know, seven years after the authorization in 1991,

we dedicated the national law enforcement officers memorial.

And then, by the way, the museum, uh, effort, you know, kind of came

about as, you know, what are we gonna do now that we built the memorial?

Uh, what's next?

And, and we decided to build the museum.

Had no idea it was gonna take us 20 years, right?

And we'd have to come up with more than a hundred million dollars to build it.

Uh, but somehow we were successful at doing that too.

So, uh, a great journey.

Uh, couldn't be proud or glad.

We're still doing what we can to show a voice of support for law enforcement

through citizens behind the batch.

You know, that was really Yeah.

Something that came outta George Floyd's death, right.

In 2020 and the defund and defame, the police movement took hold.

Yes, sir. And, uh, I called you Bill, uh, then we called Dennis.

We said, you know, we need to do something, uh, to help law enforcement.

Right now they're hurting and a lot of people are attacking them.

And, uh, and I said, would you be interested in starting a nonprofit

that, uh, you know, helps, uh, stop this defund movement and, um, maybe

does some good for law enforcement?

And, uh, here we are today doing podcasts and, uh, writing op-eds

and, uh, getting legislation enacted into Congress supporting police.

Um, you know, we've done a pretty good job with this, uh,

effort as well.

I would say.

So probably, I, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say it started with destiny.

It was, it was, it was destiny.

Then it became your passion and your drive and your interpersonal skills.

Your ability to write, your ability to speak in public is amazing.

All of those attributes, uh, created that whole.

Uh, national Law enforcement Memorial, the museum, the whole thing.

I, I mean, you are the face of that.

It's hard to think of that place without thinking of you.

I, uh, Dennis and I were there at the dedication, uh, of the

National Law Enforcement Museum.

You had to work on that and raise tens of millions of dollars to make that happen.

And I remember you were standing there with, um, uh, bill Bratton.

Bill Bratton was, you know, chief of police many places, and he was speaking

about it, and he referred to the museum as the house that Craig Floyd built.

Yeah.

And I know that, that, uh, might not have pleased some people because they didn't

get the recognition, but the person that absolutely deserved that recognition

was, in fact, you and what Bill Bratton said was a hundred percent true.

You were standing there with Clint Eastwood and others, uh, for that,

uh, dedication and truly awesome.

I mean, you did some amazing, amazing work, right, Dee?

Totally agree.

Uh, as, as I always say in the intros to this podcast, this gentleman right

here that we've been talking to today has done more for law enforcement than

anyone that I know to honor, not only the fallen, but also to never forget.

The survivors.

And that's, that's important.

Craig, I wanna do a quick lightning round with you.

Can you do a light?

Let's do a lightning round.

Okay.

I got, I got four or five quick, just quick answers.

I want your, you know, based on your experience, based on your

amazing accomplishments, uh, at the law enforcement memorial.

Here's a couple quick questions.

Okay.

Number one, what is your most memorable memory from all your

years of service at the memorial?

Mentioned Vivian's story, so I'll go to another one.

Uh, I spoke at the graduation ceremony for the Griffiths brothers.

Uh, their brother Sherman had been killed in the line of duty.

They gave up their entire professional careers.

All of 'em were doing different things, and they became Boston

police officers to carry on Sherman Griffith's, uh, tradition of service.

Uh, that to me will always stand out as a highlight of,

uh, the Memorial Fund stories

that I, I'm familiar with.

Yep.

That's a great one.

You could go on and on, but this is lightning round.

So the next question, what was your most difficult moment?

Uh, I, I think, uh, in terms of difficulty, I.

National Law Enforcement Museum.

There were many times during that 20 year journey where I thought we were

gonna fail, uh, to build that museum.

And I felt so terrible because we had already raised millions of dollars

from individuals, law enforcement, associations, corporations.

And for me, I, I was thinking, I'm gonna have to tell these people that,

you know, their, their money is gone.

Uh, we've spent it on architectural design or site selection or whatever, uh, but

we're not gonna be able to finish the job.

And, uh, sorry.

Uh, but we didn't have to do that.

'cause somehow, every time that it seemed like it was gonna be a failure,

um, somebody would give us a million dollars or somebody would give us $18

million, like, uh, Motorola Solutions did.

And all of a sudden I realized, you know what?

We're, we're gonna build this museum.

But it was tough.

And, uh, there were a lot of moments, dark moments where

I thought we were gonna fail.

Hmm.

How about your most touching moment?

You know, uh, every time

I wasn't even there.

Um, but Martha Wood, who's become a great friend of mine, she is a survivor.

I. Of a fallen officer, Barry Wood, who died a helicopter crash in Baltimore.

He was a Baltimore City police officer, and Martha was devastated by Barry's loss.

Um, you know, people were worried about her, um, her mental state.

Um, and she started coming to police week, year after year as a volunteer.

And gradually she got stronger and stronger.

And one day she told me she was, uh, meeting with a, a little girl,

uh, I think four or five years old, had lost her father in the line of

duty and was there at the memorial during National Police Suite.

And, uh, the little girl asked Martha to dance with her.

And, uh, so Martha and this little survivor girl were dancing together

at the memorial, and it gave Martha so, so much pleasure and, and

feeling like she was doing some good.

And her healing, uh, was helped by this little girl.

And the little girl obviously oblivious to her loss and her the tragedy in her life.

But, uh, to me, that's what that memorial represents.

Uh, the fact that, uh, you know, survivors can be there, they can

dance, they can remember, and uh, their loved one will never be forgotten.

That's a, that's a great, uh, thought, uh, that that stays with me every

day when I think about that memorial.

Absolutely.

And obviously there are thousands of stories like that.

We could go on and on, but one, one other.

What was your proudest moment?

What was your proudest moment?

I think

it, it happened, um.

When we dedicated the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, um, we had

some 25,000 people in attendance that day.

I had stayed up, uh, and pulled back to back Allnighters because we had a staff of

six people we put on three days of events.

I was trying to write speeches as I was giving speeches and, and trying to get

maybe an hour's, uh, worth of sleep.

But, uh, you know what, we, we pulled it off.

Uh, those 25,000 people felt really good about those three days of events.

We had a procession from the capitol to the memorial the day before dedication.

We had the 24 hour names reading.

Uh, we sold, you know, tens of thousands of dollars of merchandise.

We set up a, a shop with, you know, again, six of us and some volunteers.

And, uh, and finally we, we had the dedication ceremony for the memorial.

I was exhausted.

I I went to sleep that night.

Imagine we had a little party back at the hotel for my family and friends.

We had the presidential suite right at this great hotel.

Uh, it could have had a grand old time, but you know what?

I was asleep by 7:00 PM that night.

But my proudest moment was after the dedication ceremony was over,

me and a guy named Joe Dean.

Pulled up chairs and sat on the middle of the, the memorial grounds while everybody

else was over at the wall looking at the names and, and, uh, leaving mementos.

And Joe and I had, had worked hard to get that memorial built and I, I think

that was the moment that it hit me yes.

That, you know, we had done something pretty special and, uh, I was very

proud of, of what we had accomplished.

Uh, pretty special is, is, is, uh, you know, that's

not the whole extent of it.

It's amazing.

Uh, I would, I would encourage people you know, that are listening even if

you're not in law enforcement or not involved, don't have a family connection.

Go to DC next year during police week and watch what happens.

It is nothing less than spectacular the way the heroes are remembered

and the way their survivors are taken such good care of and that.

Is no mistake.

That is no accident.

That is because of Craig Floyd.

Okay.

This gentleman is the force behind all of this, and I am so delighted

that you were recognized during Police Week with the John Ashcroft

Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor that the memorial offers.

You deserve it.

It's a great honor.

It's, uh, I, I, I know that you don't like stuff like that sometimes, but accept it.

Deserve it.

It's for you.

And it's been well earned.

So it's just been a pleasure to, to watch you, to know you and to see how you have

succeeded through all these obstacles that have been thrown in your way.

And there were many, some we don't even wanna talk about, but there

were many, and, uh, you did it.

So congratulations, my friend.

Appreciate it, Dennis.

And, and you know, you made a point earlier with the story about, uh, bill

Bratton and, uh, the house that Craig built and, you know, Susie Sawyer at

board meetings and other places used to refer to it as, uh, Craig's Memorial.

Um, and I always fringed at those moments because I know,

yeah, I learned over the years.

Yes, I'm the face of the Memorial Fund, or I was for 34 years,

and I, I'm so proud of that.

And I knew I had to step up.

I had to give speeches, I had to write, and I would get, you

know, more than my fair share of credit for what we accomplished.

But, you know, in the end, um, I learned a lesson I that I, you have

to have a sense of ownership among a lot of people for, for this to happen,

for the memorial, the museum, all the other good things that we did.

And, and people can't think of it as one person doing it.

Uh, it's, you've gotta think that I'm an important part of it.

You know, uh, I'm the, uh, donor, I'm, I'm a police officer who's fretting the word

like Joe Dean did, uh, uh, in California.

Um, so it, it's very important for me to have everybody think of the

memorial, the museum as, as something that a big group of people did together.

And that's really how it happened.

I mean, without dignitaries and law enforcement leaders believing

in it, uh, adding their names and reputations to the effort, uh, without

corporations like Motorola and DuPont and Target and, and so many others.

Giving tons of money to make these things happen, uh, it doesn't get done.

And uh, yeah, I, I got to be the guy at the microphone, but, uh, um, believe

me, I know all the people that helped.

Uh, nobody else probably has a clue, but I, I believe me, it took a, a village, if

you will, to, to make the memorial, the museum and everything else we did happen.

Well, you were the leader, Craig.

You were the leader.

Yeah.

And you were the glue that kept it together.

And That's right.

You are the man, main

man.

That's right.

And there, and there were a lot of reasons, like at any organization

why it shouldn't stay together and there are forces acting to, you

know, fight even the best of ideas.

But there has to be the guy at the top and you were that guy.

And thank God for that, because now we have something that will last forever.

So, unbelievable.

Appreciate it guys.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have been, uh, honored today to listen to Craig Floyd.

Craig is, yes, he is generally a host of this show, but today he was the guest,

he was the subject of a, a deep look into police week, into the law enforcement

memorial and museum in Washington, dc.

And, uh, we, Billy and I are both so proud to call him our partner and our

friend and, uh, we would pretty much follow Craig anywhere, wouldn't we, Billy?

I think we would no doubt about it, especially if he takes me to,

especially when he takes me to a great cigar bar and we have a nice lay base.

Did

have fun.

Yes.

Yeah.

Well, we do have a lot of fun.

So before we wrap up, there's one more thing we want to share with you.

Earlier in the episode, you heard Dennis Bill and Craig talk about

Craig receiving the John Ashcroft Distinguished Service Award, the

highest honor given by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

What you didn't hear was the speech Craig gave that night.

It was heartfelt.

Humble and a powerful reminder of why we do what we do.

So before we close, here's that moment unfiltered and in Craig's

own words, as he accepted the award in front of family, friends, and

fellow law enforcement leaders.

Alright, so I got that email too and said all the award winners

had been notified and were prepared to give a one or two minute remarks.

I'm gonna stick to my one or two minutes, but lemme just say, my

memory right now goes back to Mario bi, a congressman from New York City.

I, right outta college, I had the privilege of being paired up with

him as a legislative assistant.

And as many of you know, uh, he was the champion of law enforcement in Congress.

And at that time, I had many issues that I was involved with in his office, but

the one that stuck and the reason why I entered this 40 year plus journey,

I. Because he instilled in me a sense that law enforcement was special.

And as time went on, I got to meet the officers.

I got to meet thousands of officers.

I got to meet the survivors of the follower, got to know their

families really well, got to know their loved one who died really

well, even though I'd never met 'em.

And then, you know, 34 years later, we had built a national law

enforcement officer's memorial.

We built a national.

Law enforcement museum.

That was a 20 year effort.

And, um, we became a premier organization in promoting officer safety and wellness.

And I'm as proud of that as anything because we gotta keep the officers in

good shape, the ones that are out there continuing to put their lives on the line.

And what's great about tonight is I'm here with my family,

who sacrificed a lot of the

best friends and so many friends that were partners with me throughout

this 34 year journey as I was.

CEO of the Memorial fund and I can't be proud of and I'm

so proud of the successors.

You know, we handed it off to uh, bill Alexander, who's doing a fabulous job to,

I love your passion to remind me of myself a lot when I'm up at the microphone

and I hear you at the microphone.

We talk, uh, the same message and you love law enforcement.

And Lori, I remember that phone call.

I called her one day to see if John Astro might, uh, be

interested in being our chairman.

And that was about 10 years ago.

And Lori is now the chairman of the National Law Enforcement.

Sounds like

I don't like to have a lot of thank yous and speeches 'cause I

think that's kind of boring for people.

But tonight I'm gonna make an exception and say thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thanks.

Uh, so that concludes this episode of Heroes Behind the Badge.

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Okay, stay tuned.

Soon we'll be bringing you yet another episode.

But that will wrap it up today for Billy Erfurth and Craig Floyd.

This is Dennis Collins.

We'll see you next time on Heroes Behind the.