Flame Of Hope in Culver City This Evening

By Nicole Mooradian and Kelly Hartog

The Culver City Police Department will participate in this year's annual Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run's Los Angeles leg on Monday evening.

Culver City Police Officers Silva, Salazar, Hernandez, Garcia and Vaskeron are expected to receive the Special Olympics Flame of Hope around 5:20 p.m. Monday from the West LA California Highway Patrol North on Sepulveda Boulevard. The Culver City Police officers will then carry the torch for approximately one hour along Sepulveda North to Jefferson Boulevard North, onto Overland Avenue East to Washington Boulevard South and then to La Cienega Boulevard at Fairfax Avenue, where they will hand it off to LAPD Southwest.  

More than 4,000 officers and Special Olympics athletes are expected to run 1,500 miles through 200 communities with the torch to raise awareness and funds for Special Olympics Southern California.

Culver City police will be in the 13th group to carry the torch in Los Angeles County.

The Torch Run was created in 1981 by Wichita (KS) Police Department Chief Richard LaMunyon to get his officers involved in the local Special Olympics. Now, the Torch Run includes more than 125 runs in more than 45 countries, according to Special Olympics.

In 2012, more than 125 law-enforcement agencies raised a combined nearly $1.2 million in the Southern California Torch Run.