SPRING LAKE — For the first time since its inception, the annual Police Unity Tour, which honors and remembers fallen police officers, is set to take off from Spring Lake this Friday.
Five hundred law enforcement officers from Police Unity Tour Chapter 10 will pedal 300 miles from Monmouth County to the National Law Enforcement Memorial located in Washington, D.C., in honor of officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, while raising funds to support the memorial and spreading awareness to the public.
“The motto is: ‘We ride for those who died,’ which essentially says that we ride for fallen police officers,” said Nick Szymanski, Police Unity Tour national delegate and Marlboro Police Department lieutenant. “Unfortunately, it’s one thing that keeps happening over and over again…the memorial in D.C. hasn’t stopped growing over the years,” he said, adding that a recent project to expand the memorial was needed to include more names.
Various fallen officers are spotlighted during each tour based on milestones such as death anniversaries and other factors.
“Each year we ride for a different police officer; this year is kind of special for us,” said Szymanski, referring to the honoring of two local officers from Spring Lake and Manchester Township.
“Whatever the anniversaries are, or significant events, riding through a certain area, we’ll choose ceremonial riders to coincide with where we’re starting from, where we’re going,” he said.
This year’s tour honors Spring Lake Police Sergeant Steven Blecki, who died due to complications from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and Robert Tobias, a Manchester Township police officer who was struck and killed by a passing motorist during a traffic stop in 1975.
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