Biking C.O.P.S. make Lincoln stop

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[July 21, 2016]   LINCOLN - On Friday morning bicyclers in the Illinois Concerns of Police Survivors made their way from Springfield to Lincoln.

This year the group switched up their annual route, which normally takes them up Route 66 to Chicago via Lincoln and Atlanta in Logan County. The group decided to alter the route to participate in special services in Tremont and Woodstock. The group headed into their final destination of Woodstock on Sunday.

During the past year, two Illinois officers have died in the line of duty. Deputy Sheriff Craig S. Whisenand of the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office died on August 11, 2015. Deputy Sheriff Dwight D. Maness of the McHenry County Sheriff's Office died September 14, 2015.

On Friday, the group was on day two of their four-day trip. They had begun with the traditional dipping of the bike wheels in the river at Pontoon Beach, then rode to Springfield on that day. On Friday they went from Springfield to Lincoln, to Tremont, then on to Normal where they would spend the night.

Saturday the group, consisting of more than 80 persons, traveled from Normal to Pontiac, Dwight, Morris, and Joliet. Sunday they concluded their trip traveling to Lombard, Roselle, Lake Zurich, Lakemoor and Woodstock.

Friday in Lincoln, the group rode to the Lincoln Rural Fired Protection District where they were served an early lunch by the Eminence Church.

As the “hometown officer,” Lincoln Police Officer Cpl. Maurice “Mo” Johnson welcomed the riders to Lincoln at the beginning of their meal. Then Officer Michael Barnes offered up some words of appreciation to Lincoln Police Chief Paul Adams.



Barnes thanked the Chief for the department’s dedication to the IL COPS program. He noted the continued participation of Cpl. Johnson, and said that he was a fine officer who has done his department proud. Barnes then presented to Adams a group photo of the 2016 group that had been taken in Springfield the day before. He asked that Adams display the photo at the station to demonstrate the department's continued support of the IL COPS.

Barnes had a similar presentation for the Eminence Church. He noted that it was three years ago that he had talked with Pastor LC Sutton and learned that the church wanted to provide the riders with a mid-day meal in Atlanta.



Barnes said in talking with the pastor, he had told Sutton, that the lunch would be greatly appreciated, but that it did not have to be a complicated meal. He said the group would be perfectly happy with a cold sandwich or something else easy to prepare. However, Sutton had said to him that these riders needed and deserved a hearty meal and that the church was happy to serve.

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The meals up to this year have been served at the firehouse in Atlanta. With the change of route, Barnes said he had talked to Sutton again, who said that yes, the church would be happy to bring the meal to Lincoln.

At the Lincoln Rural Fire Station vehicles had been pulled out of the bays. Tables were set up, a large tub of cold drinks were available and the meal was set up buffet style with church volunteers serving up a crisp salad, baked spaghetti, garlic bread, and watermelon to all the riders and their accompanying crews.

Words of appreciation were given to the fire department for making the bikers feel welcome. The department had also unfurled their large American Flag, and riders coming into the parking lot passed under the flag, flown from the department’s ladder truck.

This is the 12th year for the IL COPS bike ride. The ride serves to help raise funds for the coming year, but more importantly to raise awareness that when an officer dies, he or she leaves behind family, spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters, who must carry on, and find a new normal without their hero.

IL COPS is there to support those survivors as they adjust to this new normal. When word comes that an officer has fallen, members of IL COPS are instantly on the move, making the trip to wherever it may be to be with the officer’s family.

They go to be a shoulder to lean on, a source of strength while a family is dealing with the shock of the loss. The IL COPS are also involved in the future of that family and lend financial support for children and a youth survivor camp as well.

Of the 80 who rode this year, many were officers. But some were survivors; wives, husbands, and children, who have benefited from the help of IL COPS members and understand how important it is to have someone with them who more completely understands that police officers are not the only ones who sacrifice and take risks; their families are with them on that journey. They live daily knowing that their loved one could be gone before the end of his or her shift, and yet they support their officer because what he or she is doing is important, and necessary.

With the recent animosity toward law enforcement in general and in the shadow of the killings in Dallas, Texas, a rider was asked how he felt about being out in the open with this group, and about not going to Chicago this year.

In general, the answer was that this ride is just as important as what officers do on their daily shifts, so it was important to keep it going and have faith that all would be well. The officer added that there was increased security this year, and the consensus of the group was that they were happy that, this year, they would not be riding into Chicago.

[Nila Smith]

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