Texas, April 26, 2017
The 3rd Annual Texas Peace Officer Memorial Bike ride will be held this weekend. Police Officers from all over the state of Texas will be gathering in Fort Worth to prepare for their journey to Austin, traveling approximately 150 miles of that trip on bicycles. Also joining the police officers will be several family members of Texas Peace Officers who have lost their lives in the Line of Duty. Each year these survivors and officers raise money to benefit the families of fallen officers, then ride 150+ miles to Austin to honor them. Last year, the event raised approximately $45,000.
(USE THIS PHOTO IN PACKAGE) Family members and survivors line the main entrance to the Texas State Capitol to greet the DPS Memorial riders as they arrive from their two-day trip from Houston in honor of those fallen officers. The 2nd Annual Texas Peace Officers Memorial Ride held by the Texas Department of Public Safety was celebrated Sunday when a hundred riders arrived from Houston to Austin at the Texas Peace Officer Memorial monument on the Texas Capitol grounds Sunday May 1, 2016. The ride helps to raise funds for the organizations DPS Disability fund and COPS, Concerns of Police Survivors, The event honors the fallen peace officers and gives their friends, family and co-workers a chance to honor them by riding in their name.
RALPH BARRERA/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
This year the event will start Saturday morning (6AM) in Fort Worth, Texas. After a brief ceremony the officers will ride to the Dallas City Hall where another ceremony will be held to honor the 5 Dallas / DART officers that were killed on July 7, 2016. The group will then ride to Waxahachie to finish the day. On Sunday, the group will ride from Temple to the Texas Peace Officer Memorial located on the North lawn of the State Capital in Austin, Texas. There, the officers and survivors will honor the 21 peace officers that were lost in 2016, 4 K9s and several other Texas Peace Officers that were killed in previous years. The riders and support members will also get to meet the families of the officers that lost their lives in 2016. You are all invited to attend the various ceremonies that will take place along the route to Austin. Please help us in honoring these fallen heroes.
