Cops ride honours fallen colleagues
Seven officers from the Windsor Police Service loaded up bikes, tire pumps and provisions Sept. 25 and headed to Niagara Falls to join colleagues from across Ontario for a 640-kilometre, four-day ride to Ottawa in memory of officers killed in the line of duty.
Const. Reggie Mollicone, from the service’s forensics unit, said they expected between 100 and 120 officers from across the province to rally in Ottawa Sunday, Sept. 30 at the Canadian Police Memorial for the annual Ride to Remember, where they would honour the memories of the 800 constables and corrections and law enforcement officers who have died in Canada in the line of duty.
Mollicone said five officers have died in the line of duty in Windsor since 1937, including John Atkinson, the constable shot in 2006 after interrupting a suspected drug deal.
“No one is ever forgotten,” Mollicone said. “This is to bring awareness.”
He said the Windsor officers planned to wear the names of the five constables on special jerseys they will wear while on tour.
The remembrance ceremonies have become an annual event, falling on the last Sunday of September since the late 1970s. There will also be a ceremony in Toronto at Queen’s Park.
“This is to honour — so they will not be forgotten — those who have lost their lives doing the same jobs that we do,” said Hodgins. “I don’t look forward to the pain, but I do look forward to the support we get along the way. It doesn’t matter what uniform you wear, we’re all one big family.”
Const. Heather McPhee, an avid cyclist, said she has an extra motivation for enduring the long journey. Four years ago her sister, Meredith McPhee, a police dispatcher, was killed while riding her bike near Tobermory, Ont.
“Riding is a huge passion of mine,” she said. “All my previous rides have been done for her. She was struck from behind while training.
“But this ride is to honour our fallen officers.”