In Memor iam
Franklin dedicated his life to Unity
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
The way so many Unity Tour riders’ calves were marked with
“#28” made them look like tree trunks in the forest carved with
some special insignia, maybe a sign leading to a special place.
The thousand or so riders displaying the “#28,” and many members of the support staff who did so as well, will be one of the
lasting images of the 2016 Tour.
For 28 was the badge number of retired Roxbury Township Lieutenant Joe Franklin, who died from injuries sustained in a crash
on May 10, the first full day of the Tour. Prince Georges County,
Maryland Officer Brian Padgett was the first to write “#28” on his
calf in black marker and within hours the insignia was trending
through the Tour faster than any tweet, post or pin.
And though the tributes and testimonials for Franklin flowed
all the way To Washington, D.C. and back again – and are still
coming – nothing showed the love and reverence for a man who
gave himself to the Tour for the past 18 years and for somebody
who is responsible for so many first-class officers now in the profession more than the way the Unity Tour retired his number.
“He gave his life riding for those who died, and in a way
nobody deserved that, if you want to call it an honor, more than
Joe Franklin,” praised Unity Tour Executive Director Harry
Phillips. “At his funeral, the priest said, ‘Joe probably rode that
bike right into heaven.’ That was a fitting tribute, and it was
fitting that this was his last ride.”
What Franklin went through to ride the Unity Tour is nothing
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ JUNE 2016
short of inspiring. Two years ago, he began a fitness kick that included cycling daily marathon rides in North Carolina, where he
retired in 2007. He dropped 40-to-50 pounds and at age 57 he
rode his first Tour. That was on a bike, of course; for the 16 previous years he served as an escort leading riders from New Jersey to
Washington, D.C. on motorcycle.
Franklin served 25 years with the Roxbury Police Department,
beginning in 1982 as a patrolman. Roxbury Police Chief Marc
Palanchi said that one of Joe’s greatest contributions was the initiation of the department’s police explorer program, Explorer Post
2188 in 1991, and that hundreds of those who came through the
program went on to become law enforcement officers.
“The couple of days I spent in the hospital with his family, if I
met one young explorer who became an officer, I met 25 or 30,”
shared Pastor Greg Boyle when speaking about Franklin during
the Unity Tour arrival ceremony at the National Law Enforcement
Officers Memorial. “They just kept coming, so I’d like to say that
those explorers who he helped lead in life to become men and
women of noble honor are Joe’s kids, and the life he led will be
built in part on the legacy through the service of those young law
enforcement officers. That’s the blessing in this.”
One of those explorers was Roxbury Officer Silvio Valdes who
rushed to Morristown Medical Center to be by Franklin’s side
when he heard about the accident. That night, Valdes decided he
would pay a personal tribute to his mentor by grabbing his old
bike, throwing it in his car and driving to Annapolis to finish the
Tour in Franklin’s honor.