Officers reaching the ends of their careers face many decisions about their futures. Most are too young to truly retire entirely from the workforce, and they want a second career. The question that they face is: How to move from police work into another rewarding vocation. A new association has been founded to help officers make that transition.

Called Blue 'n' Beyond,  the association was launched last week when its Website went live. Blue 'n' Beyond is a non-profit (501c3) that offers officers-both retired and active-certified security training, a vetted officer-only Web community, a member-only database, and tools for investigating employment opportunities such as job listings and an employment search engine.

From now until June 1, Blue 'n' Beyond is offering charter memberships for $75, plus a one-time, non-refundable $25 vetting fee. Members who take advantage of this special offer will lock in their annual renewal fee at the $75 rate.

Blue 'n' Beyond is the brainchild of retired officer Kelly Corbett CPP. Corbett was medically retired from the Madison (N.J.) Police Department when he was struck by a passing motorist while at the scene of an accident. After leaving the Madison PD, Corbett went into private security as a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Senior Security Consultant. Working with him on Blue 'n' Beyond are Chief James Simonetti of the Roxbury (N.Y.) Police Department, retired New Jersey State Police Lt. Harold Tallett CPP, and retired New York City Police Department Capt. Ted Lotti. Both Tallett and Lotti are also private security professionals.

Corbett believes that Blue 'n' Beyond provides a critical service for officers who are approaching retirement. "The big questions for a lot of officers at the end of their careers is: How am I going to get a job? Where am I going to get a job? What am I going to do?"

In the near future, Corbett hopes to expand the benefits and scope of Blue 'n' Beyond. He is working with Avis, Best Buy, Verizon Wireless, and other companies to get them to offer discounts to Blue n' Beyond members. More importantly, Blue n' Beyond is establishing a national scholarship fund for the children of fallen officers.

"We are going to be a constant working association constantly working for the membership not just one that's waiting for something to happen," says Corbett. "We are not a bunch of business guys trying to get a business going. We are here to help other law enforcement."