WILLIAMSBURG — Rev. Sam Frye, a James City County police officer and the department’s volunteer chaplain, is gearing up for a 1,250-mile bike ride in memory of fallen police officers alongside other members of Law Enforcement United.
Frye, who began his career with the JCC Police over 20 years ago, serves as the department’s volunteer chaplain. He also serves as an officer in the jurisdiction.
Frye will bike 1,000 miles from San Francisco to San Diego in late April. He will then come back to Virginia and will bike another 250 miles on May 10 from Chesapeake to D.C. in support of National Police Week.
Along the way on each ride, Frye alongside other riders, will stop at various departments to commemorate the lives of fallen officers. Each stop will include a reading of the End of Watch poem with the family members of the fallen officer present.
“When you start hurting along the ride from peddling for hours, just start to think of the loved ones who are hurting because their family member won’t be coming home from shift,” Frye said.
Each officer participating in the ride also wears a bracelet with the name of a fallen comrade. Following the conclusion of each ride, that bracelet is then gifted to a family member as a keepsake.
Law Enforcement United hosts the rides annually as a fundraiser to help honor and remember fallen law enforcement officers. Money raised also goes to benefit surviving children by sending them for free to a police-themed summer camp until they are 18.
“To ride in these rides, you either have to be a retired or active duty law enforcement officer and you still have to raise the required amount of funds. Every year, just to qualify to ride, you have to raise $1750. Over the years, we’ve raised almost 11 million dollars to give to our charities,” Frye said.
The group also runs an Officer Down memorial page and a Spirit of Blue organization that provides grants, training, and equipment to law enforcement communities dealing with budget cuts.
The organization has over 1,000 members in 41 states across the nation. Frye, a charter member of the organization, is proud of what the ride has come to mean to families.
“We bring hope to families that their loved ones will never be forgotten,” Frye said.
For more information or to donate, visit leunited.org.