East Brunswick Lt. Robert Strempek (l-r) and patrolmen Andrew Pense and Jason Haykel took part in the Police Unity Tour. Capt. Edward Mitchell drove their support vehicle. EAST BRUNSWICK — Four township police officers recently took part in the Police Unity Tour, bicycling approximately 240 miles over four days.
The annual event builds awareness for law enforcement officers who had died in the line of duty, and raises funds for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum, Washington, D.C.
East Brunswick Police Capt. Edward Mitchell, Lt. Robert Strempek and patrolmen Andrew Pense and Jason Haykel participated in this year’s tour, beginning their journey to Washington after a somber memorial service at the Philadelphia Police FOP building in Center City, honoring four officers lost in the line of duty in 2008.
The officers raised nearly $10,000 to benefit the national memorial, which was founded in 1983 by Congress to recognize the service and sacrifice of fallen law enforcement officers. The East Brunswick officers were among 250 rides from the tour’s South Jersey chapter, and rode approximately 240 miles, stopping at locations where officers lost their lives. The group arrived in Washington after meeting up with 400 riders from North Jersey.
In Washington, D.C., chapters from the south met up with the riders from New Jersey and finished the ride as a unified group of 1,200. The tour, which coincides with National Law Enforcement Week, ended at the memorial, where the officers held a candlelight vigil honoring those lost each year. In 2008, the names of 133 officers were added to the wall.