L.A. County contingent to join bike ride honoring fallen peace officers

More than two dozen Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and sergeants will participate in a three-day bike ride to Washington, D.C., next week to honor law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.

The annual Police Unity Tour ends ends at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in the capital. On Sunday, about 300 members Southern California Chapter of the Police Unity Tour will fly to Somerset, N.J., where they will begin a 280-mile bicycle journey to Washington.

On Wednesday, a candlelight vigil will be held as new names are added to the memorial. Among those being added are officers who died in 2014 as well as L.A. County sheriff’s Deputy Robert Brandt Ross, who died in 1921, Reserve Deputy Otto Ellinger, who died in 1934, and Lt. John Wyndell Robinson, who died in 1980.

Approximately 1,800 law enforcement personnel from around the country will participate in the bicycle tour. The ride coincides with National Police Week.

The Police Unity Tour began in 1997 as a way to raise awareness as well as money for the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Fund. Last year, the tour raised $1.9 million.

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