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To honor Tye Slain officer's father sets up fund for LETC students By Sarah Schulz Michael Pratt Sr. wants to keep law enforcement agents from dying. To help him with his quest, he has established the Officer Tye Pratt Law Enforcement Fund at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center. A $500 grant, to be funded by the sale of Tye Band wristbands, will be given to one student each session to help them purchase body armor or other necessary equipment. Pratt's son, Jason Tye Pratt, was an eight-year veteran of the Omaha Police Department when he was shot during a foot pursuit in north Omaha on Sept. 11, 2003. He died eight days later. "The last words Tye spoke to me were, 'Are you going to remember me?' " Pratt said. "If you ever lose a son or a daughter and they asked you that, you'd make sure the whole world would remember. I kept my word to my boy." Pratt, of Valley, said he and his wife had trouble getting out of bed some mornings in the six months following their son's death. Then, nearly a year after Tye died, Pratt decided to start selling the custom-made wristbands in his honor and donated the proceeds to the Boys and Girls Club of Omaha. At first, sales were slow, but Pratt, ever the salesman, kept trying. Now he gets requests for customized bands from across the United States. The first bands featured a diamond-etched photo of Tye and a written memorial on aircraft aluminum. They are now available with a variety of photos and etched images of Tye and other slain law enforcement agents and members of the military. Some bands with civilians' photos have also been made, he said. Tye's name and a copyright appear on each band because Pratt wanted to preserve his son's memory and prevent knockoffs from cheapening the idea. While he asks for $29.95 per band, he has given hundreds away and has sold others for a lower price. All the proceeds go to the scholarship funds, he said. "Not all heroes are killed in the line of duty. That's what I tell the officers I talk to," Pratt said. "We tend to celebrate people when it's too late. Tye wasn't great because of the way he died. He was great because of the way he lived. This is my way of saluting law enforcement as the heroes they are. They do what they do because they want to serve." The initial proceeds went to the Boys and Girls Club to help children in the north Omaha neighborhoods where Tye worked. Pratt wanted to help prevent kids from making bad choices, such as the man who shot his son. "Children go down the wrong road at a young age," he said. "The Boys and Girls Club takes up the slack for parents who are off duty." However, Pratt's son, Michael Jr., who is a police officer in Lincoln, reminded his dad not to forget about "Tye's buddies." There are officers out there who need help paying for their training and who have to buy their own bulletproof vests. "It was a perfect fit," Pratt said. "I know this is what Tye would have wanted. I know Tye would have been pleased with this worthy endeavor."

For more NEWS on the Ofc. Tye Pratt Law Enforcement Fund... Click HERE.

Published Sunday
September 18, 2005
Front page of the MIDLANDS
Columnist: Mike Kelly
Parents of slain cop reach out to youthS
Tomarrow the parents of a slain Omaha police officer will take lawn chairs to the grave at Calvary Cemetery, where they will pnder and read.

Mike Pratt will take his bible. Rita has a book about grieving.
Two years ago, on Sept 19, 2003 Officer Jason Tye Pratt died from a gunshot wound to the head. Eight days earlier, he was shot by a man police were chasing. The man was then shot and killed by another officer.
Officer Pratt was white, and the man who shot him was black. That must be mentioned because this colmunn is about race.Mike Pratt by his own account, has shanged his thoughts about racial differences.
"For the first month or so after Tye died," Mike said, "whenever I saw a black person, I just wrestled with it. I had a problem. I got angry."But then a black women, in her early 30s - about Tye's age when he died - recognized Mike. You know, she said, not all of us are like that.
He knew that what she said was true. No matter what color we are, each of us are individual, not neccessarly like anyone else - regardless of race.
Mike then did something else. He contacted State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who is black and represents the district where Tye was killed.
On the way to the senator's office in Lincoln, Mike says he was nervous.
"I'm not a religious nut," he said. "I pray alot, and I believe God can do anything, but I was sweating it. I prayed for the right words to say. And then in my heart, the answer was not to say anything."
So, Mike says he mainly listened to the senator, including his oft-stated opinions about the police treating black badly. The pair didn't necessarily agree, but eventually - through a number of conversations -- gained a report.
Mike and Rita s first thought of memorializing their son by raising money for police equipment. They also decided to try to prevent crime by enhancing youth programs.
They have sold braclets known as "Tye Bands." which are available at the internet site www.TyeBand.com. Mike say money raised beyond expenses goes to charity.
The couple has donated $10,000.00 the Boys & Girls of Omaha toward and Officer Jason TYE Pratt Scholarship Fund. Recently, the first $500.00 scholarship was awarded. The student was black.Sen. Chambers, who has served 35 years in the Legislation, the longest tenure in Nebraska history, wrote the Pratts a letter. It's posted on the Website.
They could have become consumed by anger and bitterness, he wrote, but instead have constructed "bridges of assistance and understanding rather thean barriers of resentment and despair."
He added: "The selfless work the two of you have chosen to undertake bespeaks the resilience, goodness and kindness of which the human apirit is possible."
Rita said she has appreciated getting to know Ernie.
"His politics and my politics are completely opposite," she said, "but one -on-one, he is a very nice man, and so intelligent."
Race has torn at the nation for centuries. Even in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina, some contend that race-- with many of the victims being minorities -- caused a slow responce. But the nation and government have united in a race to help people recover from the massive disaster.
A violent death is a disaster for any family, reguardless of color or race. Everyone reacts in his or her own way. Some sit quietly in a cemetery.
Mike Pratt just want his son to be remembered, and he wants to help young people. Regardless of race.