Princeton Township Police Honors Fallen Heroes

It’s been almost 56 years since Princeton Township Police Officer Billie D. Ellis died in the line of duty, but he hasn’t been forgotten.

For the past four years – and most recently in May- Princeton Township Police Off. Chris King has ridden in the Police Unity Tour, a four-day bicycle ride that raises millions of dollars and honors law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

In Princeton, that means honoring Ellis, a township patrol officer who died on August 19 1955 when he was off-duty but responded to help rescue two young boys whose canoe had capsized in rough water on Carnegie Lake.

Ellis, 31, responded in his own canoe, went overboard and drowned. The boys also drowned.

This year, Township police Sgt. Geoff Maurer joined King on the Police Unity Tour.

King and Maurer, who trained and participated in the ride on their own time, each raised $1,600, money that goes towards the National Law Enforcement Memorial and the Law Enforcement Memorial Museum under construction in Washington, D.C.

King said arriving in the nation’s capital last month was an overwhelming experience.

“When you arrive at the memorial, it’s amazing the people who come out to see you arriving, getting pats on the back from people, the emotion of riding there and seeing the memorial (inscribed with the names of nearly 19,000 officers killed in the line of duty),” King said.

Both King and Maurer say they plan to continue participating in the Police Unity Tour until they retire. Already another officer in the department is talking about joining the officers next year.

The tour began in 1997 with 18 riders who made the trip from Florham Park and raised a total of $18,000.

In May, more than 1,200 riders raised more than $1.325 million to the memorial fund, bringing total donations to nearly $8.4 million.

The purpose of the Police Unity Tour is to remember those who have died and to honor their service.

Maurer said he was proud to ride in honor of Ellis.

“A lot of us can relate to Billie Ellis’ experience,” he said. “This job has people who would do what Billie Ellis did; you can certainly put yourself in his shoes. This event is a way to pay your respects in a tangible way and keep his memory alive”

King has ridden to honor Billie Ellis for three years. The first year he rode, 1998, he tried to contact the Ellis family, but officials had lost touch with them after Ellis’ wife died.

But in August 2008, a few months after King’s first ride and shortly after the department put its flag at half-mast on the anniversary of Ellis’ death, the officer’s son, Bob Ellis, sent a thank you note to the chief.

That letter reestablished the relationship between the department and Ellis’ family, King said.

In November 2010, extended Ellis family members gathered for a ceremony that unveiled a memorial to Ellis that sits on the piazza outside of the Princeton Township municipal complex at 400 Witherspoon Street.

This year Maurer rode to honor Ellis and King rode to honor a friend, Off. Kristin Pataki, of the Maryland National Capital Park Police who died in a car crash on May 4, 2002 while responding to help another officer.

This year, Bob Ellis was there where King and Maurer started the Unity Tour and both he and Pataki’s mother came to Washington D.C. on the day the officers arrived and attended the candlelight vigil.

The four-day bicycle ride is an opportunity for officers to be part of something large and meaningful.

And it’s hard work, with riders typically logging nine hours on the bike each day. Along the route, riders stop for memorial ceremonies at spots where officers died and in some cases, ride past schools where students line the streets with signs and words of encouragement as the officers ride by.

Maurer said the event brings home the impact of police officers’ service and risk.

Maurer said his first event was a moving experience, especially during a ride on a bus during when he sat in front of two widows of police officers.

“To hear them talking about their struggles of getting bills paid, you think about your wife and how things would be,” Maurer said. “It’s a very personal thing, that interaction with the two widows.”