River Edge Cops to Ride in Annual PD Unity Tour

After riding over 300 miles last year in honor of fallen police officers, River Edge Police Sgt. Bob Daly and Officer Marc Abate are again preparing to take part in the Police Unity Tour and raise awareness of Line of Duty deaths.

This year, Abate will again ride with members from Chapter 37, which will start their ride from the World Trade Center, while Daly returns to Chapter 1 and starts from Florham Park.

"Bob's and my chapters are significant," Abate said. "Bob is part of the original chapter that was formed by Patrick Montuore in Florham Park who is now the current chief. Chapter 37 represents the 37 Port Authority officers that were killed on Sept. 11."

The event was started in 1997 by a group of New Jersey officers who rode their bicycles from Florham Park to Washington D.C. in support of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Each officer is required to raise $1,750 toward the Memorial Fund as part of their participation along with choosing a fallen officer to ride in memory of. 

Abate is dedicating his trip in honor of Illinois State Trooper Kyle Deatherage who was struck and killed while making a traffic stop on I-55 in November. Deatherage, 32, was  re-assigned to New Jersey for nine days with 29 other State Troopers after Hurricane Sandy had destroyed the Jersey shore.

Daly who rides with the Paramus contingent of Lt. John Scully, outgoing Chief Chris Brock and Officer Craig McEllen, , who died in the line of duty.

They will both wear a bracelet engraved with the officer's name, department and their "end of watch," or their last day of service. The bracelet will be delivered to the officer's family upon Abate and Daly's arrival in D.C. While Daly's bracelet will feature Officer Vincent Brock's name, he stated he would purchase an additional bracelet in memory of Deatherage as well.

"The people that ride are law enforcment officers or family members," Daly said. "Last year, Marc and I rode with a woman who had lost her husband. This year I'll be riding with McEllen's son. It means so much to the family to know that their relative won't be forgotten. That was the biggest impact I had, meeting the families."

The Tour begins on May 9 with Chapters 37 and 1 meeting in Edison before beginning the over 300-mile trek to D.C. Officers will stop in Wilmington, Dela., and Annapolis, Md., along the way and upon reaching RFK Stadium in Washington, they will be joined by chapters coming from the south, at which point the entire group rides to the monument together.

"At that point, we'll have a total of 1,400 to 1,500 riders  and go two-a-breast into the Memorial," Abate said. "All of the riders families and victimes families wil be there. At that point we'll meet the officer's family that we are riding for. So members of the Illinois State Troopers will be there, Deatherage's captain and his widow."

The officers will also be part of the candle light vigil on May 13 in Washington at the Memorial where all of the 2012 officer's who died will have their names read. In 2012, approximately 119 officers died while on duty including three from New Jersey - Detective Sgt. James Hoopes (NJ State Police), Patrolman Christopher Reeves (Millvillee) and K9 Serge (Camden).

"It's a really moving ceremony with over 1,000 officers and their families attending," Daly said.

According to Daly and Abate, any amount that residents can share is appreciated.

"With the economic times we know it's difficult," Daly said. "People can donate as little as they want." 

Residents can donate to Officer Abate's fundraising efforts here or support Sgt. Daly here. Checks can also be deposited at the Police Desk stating it is for the Police Unity Tour.

To date, the United States has seen 20 officer line of duty deaths with February as the "deadliest month" with 13 officers.

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