Dallas officer’s widow speaks out in new PSA for better pay

The Dallas police and fire associations have a new weapon: Katrina Ahrens of Burleson.

In their effort to achieve higher pay for first responders, the associations are using the widow of Dallas Police Senior Cpl. Lorne Ahrens in a new radio spot. Ahrens was one of the five officers killed last month in an ambush in downtown Dallas.

“Lorne always said he would proudly take a bullet to save a citizen,” Ahrens, a Dallas police detective, says in the spot. “On July 7, that’s exactly what he did. My brave husband was killed by the downtown sniper. Our two young children were devastated.”

The spot targets a Dallas council member.

“When the TV cameras were around, Councilman Lee Kleinman talked of backing first responders,” she said. “But just days after our officers ran toward the gunfire, he ran away from his promises.”

Dallas officers are paid 20 percent less than other cities, so they work other jobs to support their families, she says.

“But when councilman Kleinman was asked to help raise their pay, he said no. He turned his back on those who protect us,” she said.

Last week, the Dallas Police Association pulled its endorsement of Kleinman when its members were kicked out of a meeting with the councilman, the association said in a news release.

Kleinman told WFAA he disagreed with the spot and he backs the city manager’s proposal, which the associations are united against in favor of their own.

“I feel for her loss,” Kleinman told the station. “It’s unfortunate that she’s being dragged into a labor dispute in her time of grieving. … I have always supported public safety.”

He told the station, “I know a lot of folks are concerned that the current pay proposal doesn’t include everybody at the very top levels, but for those guys we’re trying to salvage a system so they even have a pension, and honestly it’s not looking very promising.”

To read more about Ahrens’ radio spot, click here.

@bryanbastible

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Dallas officer’s widow speaks out in new PSA for better pay."