Philadelphia, PA

James J. Binns, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, recently graduated from the Philadelphia Division’s Citizens’ Academy. Mr. Binns makes substantial contributions to charitable institutions. His Hero Cop Plaque program, commemorating police officers who were killed in the line of duty, has received national acclaim. In addition to commemorating 273 deceased Philadelphia police officers, he has dedicated two plaques in Margate City, New Jersey and eight plaques in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Mr. Binns has initiated an identical program to commemorate the lives of 285 Philadelphia firefighters who were killed in the line of duty. As in the case of the police officers, the plaques are placed at the location where the service men and women gave their lives. Mr. Binns hosts an annual golf outing in memory of Police Sergeant Mike Taylor, which raises scholarship funds for St. Joseph’s Prep and Northeast Catholic High school. Mr. Binns is the Chairman of the Hero Thrill Show, which raises money to ensure the education of children of deceased police and firefighters. He chairs a program that replaces Harley Davidson motorcycles of the Philadelphia Highway Patrol and, to date, 65 Philadelphia Police Department Harley Davidsons have been replaced. He has been repeatedly honored by the Fraternal Order of Police and the Police Chief’s Association of Southeast Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. In 2006, he was inducted as a lifetime member.

On March 12, 2008, Mr. Binns accompanied more than 300 FBI employees and other law enforcement officers on a one-mile memorial march from the Philadelphia office to the Comfort Inn parking lot on Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia where SA Charles Reed was killed in the line of duty. At this site, a plaque, sponsored by the Hero Plaque Program, was dedicated to SA Reed’s service and sacrifice.