Full Notification

On Monday, July 14th Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS) started their 12th annual bicycle ride around Indiana. A departure ceremony was held at the Law Enforcement/Firefighter Memorial, adjacent to the State Capitol in downtown Indianapolis. The ride will last 13 days and cover nearly 1,000 miles around the perimeter of Indiana.

Today, the ride is scheduled to go from Madison to Bloomington and will feature four local police officers representing four different agencies.

Detective Kevin Getz, Indiana State Police, Bloomington Post
Sgt. Nathan Peach, Monroe County Sheriff’s Department
Officer Monica Zahasky, Bloomington Police Department
Captain Greg Butler, Indiana University Police Department

Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Inc., is made up of active and retired police officers, law enforcement survivors, law enforcement family members and friends riding their bicycles around the perimeter of Indiana to raise money and awareness about the sacrifices made by Hoosier law enforcement families. Funds raised from this event are used to aid surviving family members and co-workers of officers killed in the line-of-duty.

To date, the cycling event has raised over $300,000 for IN Concerns of Police Survivors and now for other survivor funds and organizations. Previously raised funds have been directly donated to 20 different survivor support organizations, scholarships and camps held in memory of Indiana Law Enforcement Officers who have been killed in the line of duty (see link: http://www.copscycling4survivors.org/about-us.html).

The ride is scheduled to conclude Saturday afternoon, July 26, 2014, at the Crown Hill Cemetery Heroes of Public Safety Section. Once there, riders will reunite with their families and other law enforcement survivors. A short closing ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m. To see the route the cyclists will follow, please visit their website and click on the route or calendar tabs.

In 2001 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 by keeping the wheels rolling after the first two years of riding to Washington, D.C. He brought the ride home to Indiana in order to provide more support to survivors on a local level.

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 were cycling the day of that crash. They have remained determined to keep Lt. Dudley and Chief Martin’s memories and motivation alive.

For more information on the ride please visit the Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation web-site at: http://www.copscycling4survivors.org/ or Rich Crawford, President of Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Inc. at 317-650-8961.