Friends of Law Enforcement

This letter is addressed to friends and supporters of our law

enforcement community. As many of you may, or may not know,
in January 2014, a retired Captain from the Tampa Police
Department was involved in a deadly shooting incident while in a
local movie theater, while in the company of his wife of 47 years.
Curtis J. Reeves, age 71 at the time of this incident, is a U.S.
Navy veteran. After being Honorably Discharged from military
service, he joined the Tampa Police Department where he
served his community for 27 years. Curtis had an unblemished
career at Tampa P.D. where he rose to the rank of Captain. He
was highly decorated and received numerous commendations
throughout his career and was instrumental in the formation of
the department's first Tactical Response Team (S.W.A.T), which
he commanded for many years. It should be noted that in all his
years of service, Curtis Reeves never discharged his service
weapon in the line of duty.
Following his career at the police department, Curtis was
selected to be Director of Security Operations at Busch Gardens
in Tampa. During his tenure in that position, he and his team
were responsible for the safety and wellbeing of hundreds of
thousands of visitors to the park. He held that position for 11
years until retiring in 2004.
Curtis was arrested without incident on the day of the shooting
and charged with 2nd degree murder. He was held without bond
for nearly 6 months until the Second District Court Of Appeal

ruled that the judge should set bail. His trial will begin in mid
2016. Friends and supporters of Curtis have initiated a fund to
assist with the considerable expenses of mounting his defense.

All funds raised through this initiative will be directed toward

securing the finest expert witnesses available as well as to cover
other expenses associated with this cause. Any funds collected
and not utilized, will be donated to the Gold Shield Foundation,
an organization committed to assisting families of law
enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
At the time of this incident, Curtis was in compliance with
the (National) Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act, which
authorized him to carry a concealed firearm.

PLEASE...consider contributing to this fund. Any one of us who

have worked in, or are currently working in, law enforcement,
could find ourselves in this same life-altering situation.
Checks can be made out to the Reeves Defense Fund and
mailed to:

Curtis Reeves Defense Fund, Inc.

PO Box 272687
Tampa, FL

33688-2687

OR on line at LEOFUNDME.COM
Thank you in advance for contributing to this very worthwhile
cause,
Betsy Pinkerton, Retired
Chris Milana, Retired
Tampa Police Department