Chelsea Police Officer Rick Cornell and his wife Elizabeth Cornell, an officer in the Ann Arbor Police Department, will be riding in the Police Week Unity Tour this May to pay tribute to law enforcement officials who died while in the line of duty.
Rick Cornell, 66, who is a motor officer, will be riding a motor cycle escorting the bicyclists on the 300-mile journey from Hanover, N.J. to the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C. The ride starts May 9 and takes four days to complete. National Police Week runs from May 9-May 16.
This will be his wife, Elizabeth Cornell’s, first Unity Tour, and she has been training since last fall.
“I have a trainer and am in a boot camp workout, and I run and work on my core strength,” said Elizabeth Cornell, 42, who will be bicycling on the more difficult of two routes.
Every participating law enforcement official rides for a fallen officer from their department. Rick Cornell will be riding for Riley Scott Sumner, the fallen Chelsea Police chief, who died in a helicopter accident in 2006.
Elizabeth Cornell will be riding on behalf of Ann Arbor Police Detective Sgt. Headley Downey, who died of a heart attack during the foot pursuit of a suspect in 1963.
“It’s a nice way to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Elizabeth Cornell. “Every one of us knows that every day we put this uniform on could be our last day.”
Each of the Cornells needs to raise $1,800 to pay for food and hotels on the ride as well as to donate money to the memorial. Tax deductible donations can be sent here.
There will be 1,800 participants in this year’s Unity Tour. Families of law enforcement officials who died in 2014 will gather at the National Law Enforcement Memorial where the officers’ names will be added to the memorial.
The Unity Tour started in 1997 with just 18 riders, and since that time nearly $16 million has been raised. The money has gone to the maintenance and upkeep of the memorial and is also going toward the building of a museum hall of remembrance.
