On Day One of the 30th Annual Police Unity Tour, riders from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department eased off the pedals for a solemn stop in New Jersey, gathering at a roadside memorial for Sergeant Christopher M. Bracks. The pause along the eastbound route to Washington, D.C., brought together LASD deputies, support crews and local officers for a brief ceremony that doubled as both tribute and reality check on the risks law enforcement families live with every day.
LASD riders pause to remember Bracks
According to the department's official X account, Chapter 7 riders from LASD pulled over at Bracks' memorial to formally honor the late sergeant while en route to the capital. The post called out patrolmen Paul Murphy and Tim Althamer for their response at the scene and offered thanks to the Delaware Township Police Department and Hunterdon County Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 188 for backing the Los Angeles group along the way, per LA County Sheriffs.
About this year's ride
The Police Unity Tour is a multi-day bicycle fundraiser that draws current and retired officers from across the country to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. This year's schedule lists May 10 as Day One and sets the Ride-In and arrival ceremony in the capital for May 12, according to Police Unity Tour materials.
Remembering Sergeant Christopher M. Bracks
Sergeant Christopher M. Bracks was a 16-year LASD veteran assigned to the Walnut/Diamond Bar Station. He suffered a medical emergency and died while participating in the Police Unity Tour, with his end of watch recorded as May 10, 2022. Memorial accounts say Bracks was riding in the tour when he collapsed, and that colleagues and family have continued to mark his service in the years since, according to the Sheriffs' Relief Association.
Small towns and statewide support
The route has a way of pulling in small-town departments and fraternal groups, who step up with quick ceremonies, traffic help and moral support. That network has shown up for Bracks' memory in previous rides too. In 2023, photographs from Stockton, New Jersey, captured a memorial stop where Hunterdon County and New Jersey State Police troopers stood alongside LASD riders in remembrance, highlighting how communities along the corridor turn out when the tour rolls through, per New Jersey State Police.
Ride continues toward the national memorial
The riders are set to finish at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on May 12 for the official Ride-In and ceremony, joining thousands who travel there to honor officers killed in the line of duty. LASD described the Bracks stop as one of many small but powerful tributes woven into the tour's approach to Washington, D.C., and organizers say the annual ride helps keep the names and stories of fallen officers in the spotlight during National Police Week, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
