For 84 days this summer, six motorcycle riders traveling 22,300 miles across America are visiting cities and law enforcement departments to honor the men and women who’ve given their lives in the line of duty.
On Friday, the riders will arrive in Greensboro.
“Not only do they honor the fallen, but they also honor the families –- husbands and wives, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters –- along with the officers left behind to pick up the pieces,” states a press release from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department promoting the event.
The End of Watch Ride to Remember group is made up of motorcycle riders from the state of Washington who are escorting a trailer across the country to honor fallen officers from the previous year.
The “Beyond the Call of Duty – End of Watch Ride to Remember” comes to Guilford County on Friday, July 23, at 8 a.m. They’ll ride into the parking lot at 502 W. Washington Street in Greensboro in honor of the late Guilford County Deputy Sheriff Rouse and Master Corporal Daye Jr.
Jagrut Shah, the spokesman and founder of the Ride to Remember, is a former deputy sheriff who started the ride to let law enforcement departments and families of deceased officers know they aren’t alone.
“I wanted to bridge this gap that we have and bring back to the department and let the officers and their families know that their loss has not been forgotten,” Shah stated in the press release.
The event’s name comes from the term “End of Watch Call” – a ceremony in which a police dispatcher issues a final call to a fallen officer over the radio, followed by silence. All officers in that department hear the call and remain silent to remember the fallen.
In 2020, the End of Watch ride honored nearly 150 fallen officers killed in the line of duty.
Anyone who wants to find out more about the ride and see all the cities to be visited this year can go to www.endofwatchride.com.
