Crime & Safety
Sweat, Tears Mark Police Unity Tour for the Fallen
Officers from local agencies arrived in Washington, D.C., Thursday following a 300-mile bike tour.
When Baltimore County Police Sgt. Vickie Warehime heard the call go across the scanner 11 years ago--shots fired, officer down--her heart sank.
The officer who had been shot was police Sgt. Bruce Prothero, who was killed during a jewelry store robbery on Feb. 7, 2000. Not only was Prothero a coworker and friend, she said, but Warehime also worked part-time at the jewelry store where Prothero was shot.
"So when that call came out ... and you know your friend is working there, it just goes right through you," Warehime said.
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Stories like Warehime's were told all over Washington, D.C., Thursday, as the Police Unity Tour--a 300 mile bike ride to remember fallen police officers--reached its end point at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in the District.
"I did this ride to honor Bruce," Warehime said. She has ridden for Prothero--whose wife still sends her Christmas cards, she said--for the last two years. More than 1,200 police officers and survivors of fallen police rode this year, she said.
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Riders have to raise money to make the trek, which for half of the bikers started in New Jersey, continued into New York--including a lap around Ground Zero--and then weaved south back through New Jersey into Delaware and Maryland before finishing in Washington, D.C.
The other riders began in Richmond, VA, and met the northern group at RFK Stadium. The groups rode together from RFK to the memorial.
All money raised is donated to the memorial and museum. The tour has raised more than $8 million for the memorial and museum since it was founded in 1997, the organization's website says.
Mike Wheeler, whose brother Scott Wheeler of the Howard County Police Department was killed during traffic enforcement in 2007, also made the trip.
An avid cyclist, Wheeler said the ride is very meaningful for him, and the physical demands of a 300-mile ride are secondary to its positive emotional impact.
"It's a lot of fun. It's not a race, its a ride," Wheeler said. "Having 650 riders cruise through a town, that's unity right there. It's for the people. It's for the country.
"You meet a lot of people. You meet other fellow survivors like myself, it gets you choked up...I think it helps out everybody a lot."
Several Maryland agencies participated in the four-day tour, including Howard County, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, Maryland State Police and the Maryland Transportation Authority.
