Crime & Safety

Lawrence Cops to Again Ride in Police Unity Tour

The annual bicycle ride from New Jersey to Washington D.C. seeks to raise financial support for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Lawrence Township police will hold a fundraiser event at American Legion Post 414 on April 14.

Members of the Lawrence Township Police Department this year will again take part in the annual Police Unity Tour, a bicycle ride from New Jersey to Washington D.C. that seeks to raise awareness about and financial support for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

The fund honors police officers who have died in the line-of-duty and works to support the families they left behind.

Seven Lawrence Township police officers who will take part in this year’s ride during National Law Enforcement Officers Week in May are working to raise donations for the memorial fund. Their goal is to raise $15,000. Thus far, a little over $10,000 has been raised.

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On Saturday, April 14, a fundraiser for the Lawrence Township Police Unity Tour team will be held at on Berwyn Place. Admission to the event, which starts at 5 p.m., is just $10.  More information can be found in the flyer shown in the media box at the right or on the fundraiser’s Facebook page.

Officer Tom Everist and retired Officer Ed Budzinski, both members of the team, appeared at the Lawrence Township Council meeting on Tuesday (April 2) to thank the governing body for its support of the Police Unity Tour through the council’s issuing of a formal proclamation last year. They presented council with a plaque and a framed team jersey signed by all the participating Lawrence Township officers.

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The Police Unity Tour started in 1997 with a small number of officers who biked to the nation’s capital from Florham Park in Morris County. Since then it has blossomed into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund’s largest supporter, with nearly $10 million raised to date.

“We Ride for Those Who Died” is the motto of the riders, who vow that no fallen police officer will ever be forgotten.

This year’s tour will begin in New Jersey on May 9, pass through Mercer County on May 10, and arrive in Washington D.C. on May 12. Last year, nearly 1,400 police officers from around the country participated.

In addition to Everist and Budzinski, this year’s Lawrence Township team includes Sgt. Chris Longo, Sgt. Joseph Lech IV, Officer Kelly Longo, Officer Sean Kerins and Officer Iwona Smith.

It is the fourth year taking part in the ride for Chris Longo, Lech and Everist; the third for Budzinski; the second for Kelly Longo and Kerins; and the first Smith.

The Lawrence Township officers have dedicated their participation in this year’s ride in honor of Laurens County, S.C., Deputy Sheriff Roger Dale Rice Jr. and Freemansburg, Pa., Police Officer Robert Alan Lasso.

Rice was fatally shot July 14, 2011, as he and other sheriff’s deputies apprehended a murder suspect. Just 29 years old, Rice is survived by his wife and two children. Lasso was shot and killed Aug. 11, 2011, while responding to a domestic disturbance. Lasso, who was 31, is also survived by his wife and two children.

Anyone wishing to support the Lawrence Township officers riding in the Police Unity Tour can make a donation online via this website.

Also riding in this year’s tour as part of other teams will be two other Lawrence Township residents: Detective Gary Wasko from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and Martin Burch from the New Jersey Department of Corrections.


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