Two Middletown Police Officers will take part in the Police Unity Tour to help raise awareness about law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. The annual ride is to take place from New Jersey to Washington D.C.
The Police Unity Tour is hosted by the Rhode Island chapter of the Police Unity Tour as a way to honor police officers who have died in the line of duty. This year, 282 names will be added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D.C. of officers who died in 2023, 118 of whom died in New Jersey in 2023.
To raise money for the ride, a fundraiser was held on April 13 at Young’s One * Asterisk CrossFit Gym on Greene Lane. Members of the Middletown Police Department, the U.S. Navy and the general public were able to participate in a charity ride to support Officer Chad Souza and Officer Jean Young in their upcoming ride to Washington D.C.
The ride from New Jersey to Washington D.C. will take place over two days. On May 12, the officers will participate in a National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial ceremony. On May 13, they will take part in a candlelight ceremony at the Memorial.
Officer Young said that he and Officer Souza believe deeply in the purpose of the Police Unity Tour and want to raise awareness about the work that police officers do every day.
“It’s something that Officer Souza and I both believe deeply in and we wanted to get the word out about the Police Unity Tour,” Young said. “It’s an unfortunate reality of our job and it’s something I don’t think a lot of people consider on a day-to-day basis about what we do.”
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RIDING WITH A PURPOSE
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (APRIL 18, 2024) – Two Middletown Police Officers are riding in an upcoming event to raise awareness about law enforcement officers who’ve lost their lives in the line of duty.
Known as “The Police Unity Tour,” Patrol Officers Chad Souza and Jean Young have participated for years in the bicycle ride from northern New Jersey to Washington DC to honor their lost comrades.
Young said every year, new names are added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial a couple blocks from the U.S. Capitol and National Mall. In 2024, 282 names will be added, 118 of those killed in the line of duty in 2023.
To give to the cause, donations can be made to https://bit.ly/3VymueU online.
“It’s something that Officer Souza and I both believe deeply in and we wanted to get the word out about the Police Unity Tour,” Young said. “It’s an unfortunate reality of our job and it’s something I don’t think a lot of people consider on a day-to-day basis about what we do.”
On April 13, members of the Middletown Police Department, the U.S. Navy and the general public gathered at Young’s One * Asterisk CrossFit Gym on Greene Lane to raise money for the ride.
The fundraiser had individual and team competitions, all to support Souza and Young in the “Police Unity Tour” ride leaving from New Jersey and cycle to Washington, DC, arriving on May 12. They will also participate in the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial candlelight ceremony on May 13.
Young said there are 24,067 names of police officers on the memorial, which is located at 444 E St NW across from The National Law Enforcement Museum. It is known as the only ever changing memorial in the nation’s capitol, where names are added every year.
Souza and Young are part of the Rhode Island Contingent, who ride with the Police Unity Tour Chapter 1 leaving from Essex County, New Jersey. Young said the Rhode Island group is made up of individuals from Newport, Jamestown, Cranston, Providence, Little Compton, Bristol, East Providence, Barrington and Rhode Island Department of Corrections.
“The Police Unity Tour is made up of eight chapters from around the country and internationally.,” Young said. “Our motto is ‘We Ride For Those Who’ve Died.’ We ride in honor of the police officers who paid the ultimate sacrifice. We ride to remember those we lost and the loved ones they left behind. Our goal is to bring awareness to the public.”
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
