POLICE WEEK 2015
REVERENCE AND UNITY,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29
“the average citizen respects and honors
us; it’s the few that don’t are the loudest.”
But reinforcement of how much law
enforcement means to the average citizens came out in waves, even in parts of
Maryland near Baltimore, which, as you
know, is the latest hot spot for cops getting heat for their actions. Baltimore
actually wound up being a tipping point
for the show of support. Some of the chapters riding the Tour re-routed to avoid the city, but Chapter VII from Northern California did ride
through.
Gil Curtis, the Los Angeles Police Department Detective who leads
Chapter VII, said the 325 riders from LAPD who joined others from
Michigan, Colorado, Utah, among other states, did not know what to
expect; only what they read. But as they rolled through town, Curtis
said business owners and citizens came out to street corners clapping
and cheering and showing signs of support for law enforcement.
“Some of the people we stopped and talked to told us, ‘We’re glad
you’re here and we wanted you to come through.’ We needed to see
it. Men, women and children were cheering. Cops were cheering. We
were just blown away. I think it made us all pedal stronger and hold
our heads up a little higher.”
Curtis had planned a pep talk for his riders before starting out each
morning of the three days of the Tour. As the miles passed, the pep
talk was less and less needed, for the participants wound up not only
riding for those who died – as is its mission statement – but for all law
enforcement officers and helped this Police Week become one that
confirmed all cops matter.
“I tell you, we did ride for those who work every day, who get up
every morning and put that badge on,” Curtis added.
When asked what the 2015 Police Unity Tour showed him, founder
and Florham Park Police Chief Pat Montuore started with “respect,
honor, dignity and grace,” and, in the end, asserted, “Unity.” He
admitted getting goosebumps when he saw kids come out of schools
and senior citizens come out assisted-living facilities to cheer on riders. He said he never would have expected to see the signs reading
“stay safe” and “you matter” as he did.
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NEW JERSEY COPS
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JUNE 2015
“When I looked out
there and saw a sea of
blue, I saw individuals
who are here for all the
right reasons,” Montuore
continued. “They are acting appropriately in their
jobs and showing people
that they are out there to
do their jobs every day
regardless of what anybody says.”
If the Unity Tour was a three-day wave of one-for-all and all-forcops, then the Top Cops awards provided a reinforcement for the
actions that provide critical protection and saves lives and alwaysneeded community service still being the norm across the country. As
Top Cops were awarded one by one for acts of saving young girls from
being abducted, taking out active shooters threatening to take aim at
citizens in shopping malls and not letting taking a bullet stop them
from running down bad guys with semi-automatic weapons, an
important thought occurred to Mick McHale, president of the
National Association of Police Officers, the organization that presents
these awards.
“Every single recipient had the same common theme,” McHale
explained. “They all said nothing they did was extraordinary. Although
the citizens would have to agree each action was heroic in itself, each
individual said, ‘I did nothing more than what was expected of me. I
took an oath to protect and serve and I was merely doing my job.’”
Colligan noted that, “I guess the average citizen who doesn’t like us
probably isn’t seeing these stories when they watch the day’s events
on television.” But have no fear. Somebody is watching, and that
somebody happens to be the second most powerful person in the
country.
“You’re always the guys, no matter what the number, you jump in,
always having somebody’s back. You're the same ones who, after
working all day, go out and volunteer to line the Little League field
when the season opens. You're the same guys who do fundraisers, not
just for your fallen officers you work with, but for victims and their
families,” Vice-President Biden told the more than 500 officers and
their friends and family who attended the