Monday, July 13, 2015, will mark the start of the 12th annual Cops Cycling for Survivors bicycle ride around Indiana. A departure ceremony will be held at 8:30 a.m. EDT at the Law Enforcement/Firefighter Memorial, adjacent to the State Capitol, in downtown Indianapolis. The cyclists will depart shortly after the key note comments by Franklin College head football coach, Mike Leonard. Coach Leonard was Officer Nick Schultz’s (Merrillville PD, EOW 9/7/2014) coach when he attended Franklin College. After the 9:00 a.m. departure from the memorial the cyclists will head north to Indianapolis Metro Police North District to honor IMPD Officer Perry Renn (EOW 7/5/2014). The cyclists will ride through Noblesville and then onto Tipton where they will honor Tipton County Deputy Jacob Calvin (EOW 6/28/2014). Their journey will last 13 days and cover nearly 1,000 miles riding the perimeter of Indiana honoring fallen police officers and their families.
Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Inc. annual bike ride consists of active and retired police officers, law enforcement survivors, law enforcement family members and friends of law enforcement riding their bicycles around the perimeter of Indiana to raise funds and awareness of the sacrifices made by Hoosier law enforcement families across Indiana. Funds raised from this event are used to perpetuate the memories of officers killed in the line-of-duty and to aid surviving family members and co-workers of those officers. Previously raised funds have been directly donated to foundations, scholarships and camps that have been started in memory of fallen officers or by Indiana survivors in honor of their fallen heroes. In addition, funding has been donated to Concerns of Police Survivors, the Indiana Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors and Project Blue Light at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.
This year the cyclists are recognizing the sacrifice made by four Indiana police officers killed in the line of duty in 2014:
Deputy Jacob Calvin, Tipton County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: June 28, 2014 Officer Perry Renn, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Dept, end of watch: July 5, 2014 Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield, Gary Police Dept., end of watch: July 6, 2014 Patrolman II Nickolaus Schultz, Merrillville Police Dept., end of watch: September 7, 2014
The ride is scheduled to conclude on the afternoon of Saturday, July 25, 2015, at Crown Hill Cemetery, Heroes of Public Safety Section. The closing ceremony will begin at 2:30pm EDT. Survivor Mike Laird, father of IMPD Officer Jake Laird (EOW 8-18-2004) will provide the closing message. All are welcome to attend.
As a kick-off to the ride, some of the participants will be on Monument Circle in front of Emmis Communications Friday, July 10th from 7:00am to approximately 3:30 pm riding stationary bikes, selling shirts, collecting donations and providing information about the Cops Cycling for Survivors to the public. The wrap on the support truck that will honor the four fallen officers from 2014 will be unveiled that morning.
To see the route the cyclists will follow, please visit their website.
Additional information on specific locations of meals and overnights can be found by clicking on the Calendar tab of the website.
Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Incorporated was granted 501(c) 3 status as a not-for-profit in late 2011, and the inaugural 13 day tour around Indiana under the new name took place in July of 2012. However, the spirit of this ride began many years before. In 2002 a group of police officers decided to support survivors by riding their bicycles from Indianapolis, Indiana to Washington, D.C. to honor officers who had been killed in the line of duty and to support their survivors. The ride has gone through many changes over the years, but one thing has remained constant…the cyclists’ dedication to honoring fallen law enforcement heroes and supporting their survivors left behind.
Two people who were integral to the success of Cops Cycling were Lt. Gary Dudley of the Indiana State Police and Retired Chief Gary Martin of the Lake County Police Department. Lt. Dudley took the organizational and emotional lead and kept the wheels rolling after the first two years riding to Washington, D.C. when he brought the ride home to Indiana. On August 22, 2006, Lt. Dudley and Chief Martin were both killed during the ride when a large box truck struck the rear of the support truck, pushing the support truck into the cyclists. Several of the cyclists who had participated in the ride for many years and were cycling the day of the crash were determined to keep Lt. Dudley and Chief Martin’s memories and mission alive. Those cyclists have taken the spirit of the ride and developed it into what it is today. Lt. Dudley’s vision and legacy in supporting law enforcement survivor’s lives on with Cops Cycling for Survivors. To date, the cycling event has raised over $400,000 for Police Survivors in Indiana.
For more information on the ride please visit the Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation Facebook page (Cops Cycling for Survivors), web-site at: http://www.copscycling4survivors.org/, or contact Rich Crawford, President of Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Inc. at 317-650-8961.