 Monday, July 13, 2015, will mark the start of the 12th annual Cops Cycling for Survivors bicycle ride around Indiana. A departure ceremony will be held at 8:30 a.m. EDT at the Law Enforcement/Firefighter Memorial, adjacent to the State Capitol, in downtown Indianapolis. The cyclists will depart shortly after the key note comments by Franklin College head football coach, Mike Leonard. Coach Leonard was Officer Nick Schultz’s (Merrillville PD, EOW 9/7/2014) coach when he attended Franklin College. After the 9:00 a.m. departure from the memorial the cyclists will head north to Indianapolis Metro Police North District to honor IMPD Officer Perry Renn (EOW 7/5/2014). The cyclists will ride through Noblesville and then onto Tipton where they will honor Tipton County Deputy Jacob Calvin (EOW 6/28/2014). Their journey will last 13 days and cover nearly 1,000 miles riding the perimeter of Indiana honoring fallen police officers and their families.
Cops Cycling for Survivors Foundation, Inc. annual bike ride consists of active and retired police officers, law enforcement survivors, law enforcement family members and friends of law enforcement riding their bicycles around the perimeter of Indiana to raise funds and awareness of the sacrifices made by Hoosier law enforcement families across Indiana. Funds raised from this event are used to perpetuate the memories of officers killed in the line-of-duty and to aid surviving family members and co-workers of those officers. Previously raised funds have been directly donated to foundations, scholarships and camps that have been started in memory of fallen officers or by Indiana survivors in honor of their fallen heroes. In addition, funding has been donated to Concerns of Police Survivors, the Indiana Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors and Project Blue Light at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.
This year the cyclists are recognizing the sacrifice made by four Indiana police officers killed in the line of duty in 2014:
- Deputy Jacob Calvin, Tipton County Sheriff’s Office, end of watch: June 28, 2014
- Officer Perry Renn, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Dept, end of watch: July 5, 2014
- Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield, Gary Police Dept., end of watch: July 6, 2014
- Patrolman II Nickolaus Schultz, Merrillville Police Dept., end of watch: September 7, 2014
The ride is scheduled to conclude on the afternoon of Saturday, July 25, 2015, at Crown Hill Cemetery, Heroes of Public Safety Section. The closing ceremony will begin at 2:30pm EDT. Survivor Mike Laird, father of IMPD Officer Jake Laird (EOW 8-18-2004) will provide the closing message. All are welcome to attend.
As a kick-off to the ride, some of the participants will be on Monument Circle in front of Emmis Communications Friday, July 10th from 7:00am to approximately 3:30 pm riding stationary bikes, selling shirts, collecting donations and providing information about the Cops Cycling for Survivors to the public. The wrap on the support truck that will honor the four fallen officers from 2014 will be unveiled that morning.
