The Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police put into service a mobile emergency response trailer and a four-bedroom home this month, giving officers and their families a place to turn when tragedy, disaster, or personal crisis hits close to home. Rick Snyder unveiled both assets together, calling it a first-of-its-kind dual dedication ceremony.
A 43-Foot Trailer Built for Crisis Response
The new trailer, known as ARC — short for Active Response Kit — stretches 43 feet and is designed to roll into disaster zones or the scenes of officer tragedies with food, recovery and cleanup supplies, and lodging for response teams, according to WIBC 93.1 FM. The trailer also includes a private space for chaplaincy visits and resource meetings.
Snyder said the unit, which has picked up the nickname the Blue Oasis, already responded to the line-of-duty deaths in Delaware County and Beech Grove, as well as flooding in Carmel and Laurel. Lucas Oil donated the trailer, TKO Graphics designed its wrap, and Dylan Automotive provided the truck that hauls it to deployments, per the station's report. The deployments put the trailer to use.
The Tragedies That Prompted the Deployment
The Delaware County response followed the death of Sheriff's Corporal Blake Reynolds, 31, who was killed in November 2025 when a semi-truck struck his patrol vehicle while he was responding to a disabled semi-truck on Interstate 69, according to WFYI. In Beech Grove, Officer Brian Elliott, 33, was shot and killed in February while responding to a domestic disturbance call, as reported by WTHR. The deployments put Lodge #86's rapid-response asset to use.
A Four-Bedroom Home for Families in Emergencies
Alongside the trailer, the lodge dedicated the Comfort Cottage, a four-bedroom, four-bath home available free of charge to officers and their families during emergencies. Snyder said members of the North Carolina FOP used the cottage after Hurricane Helene. The storm devastated western North Carolina in September 2024, according to the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police.
Snyder described the cottage as a place of comfort for police officers, and said the trailer, the cottage and the people who operate them are focused on meeting urgent needs. The dedication comes about a year and ten months after Lodge #86 ratified a landmark four-year contract with the City of Indianapolis, which secured an average 24% pay raise for IMPD officers and pushed starting salaries to about $72,000 annually — part of a broader push by the union to improve retention and working conditions, as Hoodline previously reported.
A Broader National Crisis-Response Network
The Indy FOP's trailer mirrors a broader national infrastructure for crisis response. The national Fraternal Order of Police runs its own Disaster Area Response Team program, equipped with mobile remediation trailers and kitchens capable of preparing more than 1,000 meals a day for officers working disaster zones, according to the Fraternal Order of Police.
Serving Officers Beyond the Badge
The new trailer and Comfort Cottage position the Indianapolis FOP as a hub that responds to officers' needs long before — and long after — a city government agency might be able to act. How ongoing maintenance and operations for the two new assets will be funded has not been detailed.
