May 7, 2008
Last year, in the early morning hours of April 1, 2007, Officer Jeff Shelton and Officer Sean Clark lost their lives in the line of duty. This year, their names will be added to the National Memorial and members of our law enforcement community are commemorating this event by taking part in a bike ride to the nation's capital for the services. It will cost about $5000 for fuel, lodging, and other expenses for all the riders and support crew. Last year the riders and support crew paid for all of these expenses out of our own pockets. This year, individual and corporate donors can help defray these expenses. Any money raised beyond expenses will be given to the Police Memorial Fund to be used in support of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Please help show your support of the Law Enforcement Community by giving generously to help defray the cost of the ride.
Checks should be made out to "Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department" and mailed to:
LE Bike Ride to DC
Attn: Ron Horton
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
601 E. Trade Street
Charlotte, NC 28202-2940
When Officers Clark and Shelton were killed, there were funerals and grieving and collections of funds to benefit the families of those officers. Yet, some people in the law enforcement community still wanted to do more. They wanted to do something physical in their honor – something they could DO to honor Officers Shelton and Clark. So on May 9, 2007, four cyclists from CMPD, Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office and Airport Police got on bicycles and headed out from CMPD Headquarters to ride 370 miles from Charlotte to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC.
They arrived at the Memorial after four days of tough riding. It was a great trip – they felt the support of communities along the way as they explained why they more than 1000 other cyclists from Law Enforcement Agencies around the country, they were greeted by families of officers who had made the ultimate sacrifice. It was an incredibly moving moment.
This year, eight officers representing CMPD, MCSO and the Airport Police are going to make the 417 mile trip. They will cover all those miles in four days, leaving from CMPD HQ at 0730 Saturday, May 10th. They will arrive in DC on Tuesday May 13 in time to attend the evening Candlelight Vigil at the Memorial. The route is:
This is not an easy ride. There is little flat ground between here and DC. But each officer is committed to complete this ride in honor of not only Officers Shelton and Clark, but for all those Law Enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
