Crime & Safety

Officers to Visit Local Memorials Ahead of Police Unity Tour

Police officers from Moorestown and neighboring departments will stop at memorials in the area Thursday, including Fullerton Park, before they begin the main leg of the annual Police Unity Tour.

Before they join hundreds of other law enforcement officials on the Police Unity Tour to Washington, D.C. Thursday, local police officers will do their own tour of local memorials to pay tribute to their fallen brethren.

Each year, officers from Moorestown and neighboring departments take part in the Unity Tour, a 200-mile bike ride to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in D.C. that raises awareness and money for fallen police officers and their families.

The first Unity Tour—the motto of which is, "We Ride For Those Who Died"—began in Florham Park, NJ with only 18 officers in 1997. Last year, approximately 1,600 officers made the ride to D.C. Sgt. Richard Gunning was the first Moorestown officer to participate, in 2007. In the last few years, he’s been joined by patrolmen George Hubel and Bryan Wright, and this year special officers John Rulli and Ryan Carr will be along for the ride.

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Before they begin the main leg of their journey this year, they’ll join officers from neighboring departments in the South Jersey chapter of the Unity Tour—including Delran, Riverton and Medford—in stopping at a handful of local memorials Thursday morning.

Hubel said the officers will first gather at the Delran Police Department, then head to the Thomas C. Whitelock Memorial in Riverton, before ending up at Frank Fullerton Memorial Park in Moorestown. Fullerton, a Moorestown police officer, was killed in the line of duty in 1979.

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Even though Moorestown traditionally rides in the Unity Tour with the North Jersey chapter, Hubel said there was no way they could miss the local tour.

“We can’t be with Chapter 1 (North Jersey) … and Moorestown doesn’t show up at their own memorial,” he said, noting the fact that Fullerton’s name is on the memorial in D.C.

Hubel said they should wind up at Fullerton Park around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, where they’ll hold a brief ceremony before the officers head north to begin the main leg of the Unity Tour.

He said the ride is a big commitment—he usually uses five or six vacation days so he can participate.

“I miss my anniversary every year because of that,” Hubel said. “(My wife) gets an extra present. And she understands why I do it … (The tour) kind of keeps you grounded and makes you realize what can happen in a moment’s notice.”

The Moorestown riders, and the rest of Chapter 1, will begin the tour in North Jersey and wind their way down through the Garden State, into Delaware and Maryland, before ending up in D.C. Hubel said around 800 riders will make their way down Route 130 Friday, stopping at the rest area near the Delanco Bridge (at 130 and Creek Road) around 11:30 a.m./noon.

Riverton Police Officer Jeff Walker is also participating in the Unity Tour this year. Walker explained that the hometown connection, with Whitelock dying in the line of duty, was a motivating factor in his decision to ride.

“It definitely hits home,” he told Patch in February. “You hear about a town or a police officer in another state. This is actually in the town that I work in.”

Each officer who rides in the Unity Tour has to raise at least $1,750, all of which goes to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. In 2012, the Tour raised more than $1.65 million. Hubel said Moorestown officers raised about $9,000 total for this year’s ride.


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