> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://media.proudamericanstudios.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A Father, a Badge, and a Mission: Brian Sizemore on the Crisis of Law Enforcement Suicide - URL: https://media.proudamericanstudios.com/podcasts/a-father-a-badge-and-a-mission-brian-sizemore-on-the-crisis-of-law-enforcement-suicide/ - Published: 2026-05-27T20:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-14T18:01:54.000Z - Description: Brian Sizemore’s son Lucas was a young Atlanta Police officer with a bright future. On January 9, 2024, he took his own life without warning. Brian now leads the Lucas Foundation to end law enforcement suicide. This is his story. - Author: Editor-in-Chief, Proud American Studios - Tags: The Hero Next Door, podcast, U.S. Law Enforcement & Public Safety [Watch the Full Episode Now on Proud American Studios](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/heronextdoor?cid=4876071&permalink=brian-sizemore-lucas-foundation-law-enforcement-suicide-hero-next-door-ep-6&ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) > *It’s okay to have feelings about what happened today. It’s actually probably not okay if you don’t. You saw some crap today and it’s okay to feel a certain way. It’s normal."* — Brian Sizemore, President/CEO of The Lucas Foundation On January 9, 2024, Brian Sizemore received a phone call that shattered his world. His firstborn son, Lucas Sizemore, a young patrol officer with the Atlanta Police Department, had taken his own life. There were no warning signs. No red flags. No cry for help that anyone could hear. In Episode 6 of *The Hero Next Door*, hosted by [Dr. Darcy Leutzinger](https://proudamericanstudios.com/team/darcyleutzinger?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) with co-host [John Adams](https://proudamericanstudios.com/team/johnadams?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com), Brian Sizemore sits down to share Lucas’s story in full: his upbringing, his path into law enforcement, the day everything changed, and the foundation Brian built from the wreckage. ## An All-American Upbringing in Downriver Michigan Brian Sizemore is a working-class father from Woodhaven, Michigan, roughly halfway between Detroit and the Ohio border. He has worked for AT&T for nearly 28 years. His wife Marie is a longtime schoolteacher with the Taylor School District. Together, they raised two sons in a stable, modest home surrounded by extended family. Lucas was their firstborn. Brian describes him as a normal Michigan boy: he played sports, hunted whitetail deer with his dad every November, played bass, guitar, and piano, traveled through Europe, rode a motorcycle, and maintained solid grades thanks in large part to his schoolteacher mother who refused to let her boys slack academically. Brian’s younger son Evan recently signed an 18X contract with the U.S. Army, a Special Forces recruitment pathway for civilians, and will report in August 2026. ## The Path to the Badge Lucas attended Eastern Michigan University, commuting from home, where he began taking criminal justice courses. An internship with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) at the Detroit field office, arranged through a family member who served as an HSI agent, solidified his direction. He participated in tactical training exercises at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and observed real casework. The family knew then: Lucas was going into law enforcement. Lucas wanted to work federal but learned that, at the time, the only federal agency hiring without prior law enforcement experience was the Border Patrol. That was not the right fit. Family advisors told him that if he wanted tactical work, motorcycle units, or specialized assignments, he needed a big-city department with the resources to support those programs. He applied to the Atlanta Police Department. Within weeks of testing and vetting, he received a job offer. ## Academy, Graduation, and Zone 4 The Atlanta Police Foundation had built a dedicated apartment building for police recruits. Lucas secured a unit there, providing his family some peace of mind about his safety 800 miles from home. During the academy, Lucas was assigned to a work detail in Chief Darin Sherbaum’s office, where the Chief saw him daily and knew him by name. Lucas graduated and was allowed to preference his assignment. He chose Zone 4, one of the city’s tougher neighborhoods, because he wanted to do real police work, not direct traffic downtown. He told his father that he had researched the zone and believed most of the department’s command staff had been promoted out of it. He was assigned the evening watch: 3 PM to 2 or 3 AM. He was a one-man car. He earned marksman status, qualified with additional firearms for his cruiser, and had a potential tactical unit offer on the horizon. His future in the department looked bright. [Watch the Full Episode Now on Proud American Studios](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/heronextdoor?cid=4876071&permalink=brian-sizemore-lucas-foundation-law-enforcement-suicide-hero-next-door-ep-6&ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) ## Daily Contact, No Warning Signs Brian and Lucas spoke every day, sometimes twice. Because Brian worked the opposite shift, their schedules aligned for regular calls. Lucas shared stories from the road openly: a domestic call where a suspect spit in his face, perimeter duty at a murder scene in an apartment complex, security rotations at the controversial public safety training center site. He talked about the heat, the pollen, the adjustment to night shifts. Brian had put a police scanner app on his phone to listen to Atlanta’s Zone 4 frequency. He could pick out Lucas’s voice among hundreds of officers on the radio. Nothing in their conversations pointed toward what was coming. ## January 9, 2024 Brian was at work before 5 AM when a coworker brought him his phone. His younger son Evan was calling repeatedly. When Brian called back, Evan told him directly: Lucas was dead. Brian told Evan to get home, then called his wife, Marie. She was incoherent. He arrived home, grabbed a few things, and by 6 AM was on I-75 heading south. The drive took approximately 11 hours with Atlanta traffic. During the drive, the Zone 4 desk sergeant answered his call and told him Major Clay was en route to the scene. Around 6:50 AM, Chief Sherbaum called Brian personally and delivered the official notification. The Chief called Brian roughly 12 more times throughout the day to check on him. At Marietta, north of Atlanta, APD officers met Brian at a McDonald’s. One of Lucas’s close friends and a former training officer were there. They drove his truck the rest of the way while other officers bracketed the vehicle to the hotel downtown, where Chief Sherbaum, chaplains, detectives, and over a dozen officers were waiting. ## The Aftermath Brian had never made funeral arrangements for anyone. He was writing notes on loose paper while driving, trying to remember who to call and what to do. The Atlanta Police Foundation secured his hotel room and meals. Detectives asked the expected questions. Brian’s answers were all the same: no, they had no idea. When Brian entered Lucas’s apartment to pack his belongings, the hardwood flooring had been torn out of the hallway and bathroom because it could not be cleaned. He could still smell Lucas’s cologne on his clothes. That was the first time Brian broke down. A service at a small chapel near the funeral home drew Lucas’s academy classmates and the officers of Zone 4\. A full APD procession escorted Lucas’s body from the medical examiner’s office. Brian, not planning to speak, stood up and addressed the room. He credits that moment as the birth of the foundation. ## Law Enforcement’s United Crusade Against Suicide The name spells LUCAS. Brian conceived the idea during his drive to Atlanta and called his sister-in-law, an attorney, to begin the paperwork before he arrived. By the time he returned to Michigan, the filings were ready. [The Lucas Foundation](https://www.lawenforcementsunitedcrusadeagainstsuicide.com/?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) operates on several fronts: - **Academy speaking:** Brian visits the Atlanta Police Academy twice a year to address recruits. After every talk, 10 to 15 young officers approach him privately. He sees promise in the younger generation’s willingness to engage with mental health. - **Financial support for foundations with mental health programs:** The organization has identified approximately eight police foundations across the country with dedicated mental health initiatives and directs funding to them. - **The 8014 Initiative:** Named for Lucas’s badge number. Before Christmas, Brian identified six officers injured in the line of duty, prioritizing those with families, and sent each a package of retail gift cards totaling $801.40 to ease holiday financial stress. - **Long-term vision:** A mental health treatment program designed and built by law enforcement personnel specifically for law enforcement personnel. Brian believes officers need to talk to someone who has walked the same beat, not a clinician who has never worn the badge. The foundation’s website is [www.LucasCrusade.org](http://www.lucascrusade.org/?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com). Brian’s personal cell phone number is published on the site. He answers it. [Watch the Full Episode Now on Proud American Studios](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/heronextdoor?cid=4876071&permalink=brian-sizemore-lucas-foundation-law-enforcement-suicide-hero-next-door-ep-6&ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) ## The Numbers Behind the Crisis Brian cited research showing 111 line-of-duty deaths for U.S. police officers in 2025\. Estimated suicides for the same period, with incomplete fourth-quarter data, were projected at approximately 180\. More officers die by their own hand than by any threat on the street. Both figures are down from prior years, but the gap remains. ## Brian’s Message to Families Do not wait. Do not wait for a sign, a change in tone, or the next scheduled phone call. Call your law enforcement loved one today and tell them it is normal to have feelings about what they see on the job. Tell them it is not normal to bury it. If they will not talk to you, urge them to talk to someone. If the first counselor is not the right fit, try again until the connection clicks. Brian found his own grief counselor on the second try: a woman whose son was a canine officer. The connection was instant because she understood the world her son operated in. Watch the [full episode](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/brian-sizemore-lucas-foundation-law-enforcement-suicide-hero-next-door-ep-6?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) on [Proud American Studios](https://proudamericanstudios.com/?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com). [Watch the Full Episode Now on Proud American Studios](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/heronextdoor?cid=4876071&permalink=brian-sizemore-lucas-foundation-law-enforcement-suicide-hero-next-door-ep-6&ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/7e/617ea0f9-9c68-4cf4-99c3-4aefef529f30/content/images/2026/02/Blue-Radial-Gradient-Background.png) ## ****Join Proud American Studios** Join a growing community of Americans who value faith, freedom, and country. Enjoy exclusive programming, member-only events, and a private community—all while saving over 50% with an annual membership. [BECOME A FOUNDING MEMBER](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/join?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com)