ALEXANDRIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Public Information Office
2003 Mill Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703.838.4636
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 9, 2005
Alexandria Police Join Hundreds of Officers on Unity Tour;
250-Mile Bicycle Ride in Memory of Fallen Officers
Moment of Silence Thursday Afternoon at Hopkins Court in Alexandria
To kick off National Police Week, more than a dozen Alexandria officers will take part in the Police Unity Tour, a 250-mile bicycle trek through Virginia, in honor of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. After leaving Chesapeake on Tuesday, May 10, hundreds of officers will cycle to Richmond and then Fredericksburg, before arriving in the Washington, D.C., area on the afternoon of Thursday, May 12.
Each cyclist rides in memory of a fallen officer, and this year one stop will be made in Alexandria, at Hopkins Court, where Corporal Charlie Hill was murdered in March of 1989.
When the Unity Tour reaches Hopkins Court around 12:30 p.m., on Thursday, there will be a moment of silence at the site where Corporal Hill and his partner, Officer Andy Chelchowski, were shot. Corporal Hill and Officer Chelchowski, who died four years later, are among the 16 Alexandria law enforcement officers to make the ultimate sacrifice.
In 2004, the Alexandria Unity Tour group raised more than $18,000 for charities for survivors of line of duty deaths. Lieutenant Dianne Gittins, Alexandria’s co-ordinator, said that the three-day ride was the “most challenging, rewarding and sobering experience” of her police career.
Please contact the Public Information Office to arrange photos or interviews along the tour. For more Unity Tour information, visit www.policeunitytour.org and to learn about the fallen officers, visit www.odmp.org.
(end)
Photo: Alexandria officers celebrate their 250-mile bike ride after arriving in Washington in the 2004 Unity Tour.
Translate