Kansas police plan surprise for fallen officer's bullied son

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Police in Kansas City, Kansas, are planning a surprise for a fallen officer's oldest son who was bullied at school.

Officer Mitch Kelchen from Anamosa, Iowa was killed in a car crash during Labor Day weekend when another driver crossed the center line. At Kelchen's funeral, his oldest son collected business cards from all the officers who came to honor his father, KMBC-TV reported .

But another student ripped them up at school.

"When I saw this, I thought, 'We need to do something for this young man,'" said Travis Toms, master patrol officer for the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

Now the department is collecting business cards from all over the U.S. to replace the ones destroyed. A local fine art store has offered to frame the cards for free.

"I hope he understands that he's not alone," Toms said. "We're all family. So you can reach out to any of us."

In the middle is a patch from the Anamosa Police Department and collector police coins.

"This is something he'll be able to cherish forever and preserve because he'll be able to put it on his wall as a teenager, and go to college as an adult," said Tony Lee, another officer. "He'll always be able to cherish this, and he'll pass it on."

Toms said the boy's story "hits home."

"The child is about the same age as my son too," he said. "I'd want someone to look out for mine as well if it were to happen to me."

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Information from: KMBC-TV, http://www.kmbc.com