N.B. police officer bikes to D.C. for Police Unity

Group planned to arrive at Law Enforcement Memorial today

JERRY WOLKOWITZNorth Brunswick Sgt. Lisa Racz stands by the bicycle that she will ride in the Police Unity Tour to Washington, D.C., this week.

By craig yetsko

NORTH BRUNSWICK — For one North Brunswick police officer, traveling to Washington, D.C., this week did not involve any popular modes of transportation like a plane, train or automobile.

Sgt. Lisa Racz made the four-day, 320-mile trek by bicycle, joining about 65 other state police officers to participate in the annual New Jersey Police Unity Tour.

The group left Chatham Monday and was scheduled to arrive at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in the nation’s capital today for a short memorial service and the presentation of a donation to the memorial fund.

JERRY WOLKOWITZNorth Brunswick Sgt. Lisa Racz goes for a ride as she prepares to participate in the Police Unity Tour to Washington, D.C., this week.

Except for Racz and an officer from the Franklin Township Police Department, the New Jersey contingent is mostly from North Jersey.

Racz said that 280 names will be added to the wall this year. New Jersey’s Police Unity Tour is dedicated to Joyce Carnegie, an officer from the Orange Police Department who was killed in the line of duty last year.

The memorial, located on Judiciary Square, was dedicated in 1991 by President George Bush. Designed by Washington, D.C., architect Davis Buckley, it includes the names of more than 14,300 male and female law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty, including North Brunswick officer Robert S. Heacock, who was killed Oct. 2, 1984.

The wall includes the names of 139 female officers, nine of whom were killed prior to 1970, plus those of 828 federal officers, 338 correctional officers and 31 military law enforcement officers.

A first-year tour participant, Racz said that she is a little nervous about the trip. "You really don’t know what to expect until you do it," she said.

Last year, Racz was all ready to take part in the tour; however, she had to cancel after breaking her leg in a February snowboarding accident.

She first heard about the Police Unity Tour in May 1998 when she was in Washington for Police Week.

After watching a candlelight vigil and hearing about the purpose of the trip, she thought it was a great way to acknowledge those who lost their lives in the line of duty.

She has been preparing for the long journey since January by taking two 35-mile and one 20-mile ride at least once a week. She also had an indoor trainer and worked on a stationary bike.

Racz said that the first 10 to 15 miles are usually the toughest, but after that she gets into a groove. "You just keep going," she said.

One of her tune-ups for the Police Unity Tour was the 65-mile Tour de Franklin on May 7. Although she encountered some hills designed to make a rider tired, "I wasn’t completely pooped," she joked.

The first leg of this week’s tour ended in Hammonton, the second in Lewes, Del., the third in Annapolis, Md., and the final leg in Washington, D.C., today.

The main goal of the tour is to raise funds and awareness about the memorial.

Sgt. Stephen G. Ambrose, Police Unity Tour president, said in a letter that the tour was formed and incorporated in 1997 after 21 police officers made the journey from Florham Park to D.C.

The tour has raised over $122,000 for the memorial.

According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Web site, one law enforcement officer is killed somewhere in the United States nearly every other day.

The first known line-of-duty death occurred in 1792, when New York’s Deputy Sheriff Isaac Smith was shot and killed.

New York City has lost 540 officers, more than any other single department.

California is the state with the highest number of deaths, 1,200. New Jersey has had 325 officers killed in the line of duty.