Cops Cycling for Survivors is a nonprofit organization with a July event, which takes participants across the state in a cycling tour designed to show support for current police officers, and remember those who’ve been lost in the line of duty.
This year’s tour will have 13 stops covering 1,000 miles across the state of Indiana. The tour starts in Indianapolis and will come as far south as Jeffersonville.
The goal for 2022 is $50,000. These funds will be collected in honor of fallen law enforcement officers to support scholarships and youth camps.
This is the 10th year for the Indiana nonprofit which is based on a national movement which began about 20 years ago.
Participants can do one or more stops of the tour, but Jeff Jessee of Jasper is riding all 13 days this year.
“And the point, the whole premise of the bike ride itself, it is a fundraiser, but it brings awareness to the names of those who were killed in the line of duty,” he said.
2022 is dedicated to eight fallen officers which include police detectives, corrections officers, sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Marshals. The eight individuals will be featured on the side of the cycling support truck. See the full list below.
Participants are most commonly from a law enforcement career. This year this includes FBI agents and DNR officers. Jessee is a retired high school principal.
“I can tell you that in my 35 years of being in public education, my best friends became law enforcement officers,” he said. “Whether I was dealing with a family tragedy, school events, school activity that went wrong. We needed education on drunk driving … it was law enforcement individuals that had the other knowledge that kids needed to help keep us safe and on the straight and narrow.”
Funds will be raised by the individuals like Jasper who are riding, but they also accept donations. Go to copscycling4survivors.org to donate.
Officers lost in 2021, honored in 2022:
Lt. Eugene Lasco, Indiana Department of Correction, Feb. 21, 2021
Reserve Deputy James Driver, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, March 29, 2021
Sgt. Thomas E. Sawyer, Hammond Police Department, June 17, 2021
Detective Greg Ferency, Terre Haute Police Department, July 7, 2021
Corporal Robert Wayne Nicholson, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Sept. 26, 2021
Reserve Deputy James R. Hirtzel, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Oct. 12, 2021
Town Marshal Anthony Wayne Hinshaw, Losantville Marshal’s Office, Nov. 25, 2021
School Resource Officer John Davis Starks, Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Dec. 8, 2021
2022 routes
Day 1: Monday, July 11 — Indianapolis to Richmond
Day 2: Tuesday, July 12 — Richmond to Bluffton
Day 3: Wednesday, July 13 — Bluffton to Angola
Day 4: Thursday, July 14 — Angola to South Bend
Day 5: Friday, July 15 — South Bend to Merrillville
Day 6: Saturday, July 16 — Merrillville to Kentland
Day 7: Sunday, July 17 — Kentland to Terre Haute
Day 8: Monday, July 18 — Terre Haute to Princeton
Day 9: Tuesday, July 19 — Princeton to Jasper
Day 10: Wednesday, July 20 — Jasper to Jeffersonville
Day 11: Thursday, July 21 — Jeffersonville to Madison
Day 12: Friday, July 22 — Madison to Bloomington
Day 13: Saturday, July 23 — Bloomington to Indianapolis
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