Zone 18
No. 14 Vol. 7
New View Media Group • 1-800-691-7549
April 11, 2018
Riverdale Police Officer Plans Return Ride In Upcoming Police Unity Tour
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By Steve Sears he motto for the Police Unity Tour is “We Ride for Those Who Died.” Riverdale Police Officer Joseph McDermott, and officers from neighboring towns, are some of those riders, and on May 9 they will join nearly 2,500 law enforcement officers peddling bikes from various areas and different routes towards Washington, D.C.,
all escorted by motorcade. The fourday event takes place rain, snow, or shine, canceled only in the case of lightning. McDermott, who is entering his sixth year doing the Police Unity Tour ride, represents both the Riverdale Police Department and the Borough of Riverdale. Each successive year he has exceeded his pledge amount, and this year he has
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pledged to raise $1,950. He is joined locally by Pompton Lakes Sgt. Joseph Ruffo, Bloomingdale’s Chief Joseph Borell, Sgt. Mark Loveland, Patrolman Mike Fatzer, and Detective/ Patrolman Daniel Greenwood, all on bicycle, and Kinnelon Lieutenant Joseph Napoletano via motorcycle. The Police Unity Tour was founded and organized in 1997 by Florham Park Officer Patrick P. Montuore to honor and draw awareness to those officers who have lost their lives on the job. With 2,500 members taking part annually, this year membership chapters from New Jersey, Arlington, Virginia, and Ground Zero in Manhattan, start riding the same day. McDermott’s initial entry into the tour in 2013 was his genesis with bike riding. “Some people are avid cyclists,
Officer Joseph McDermott during the 2017 Police Unity Tour.
which I have become because of the ride,” he says. “I cycle all year round. It’s all about getting out there and getting “seat time,” learning how to ride your bicycle, change your gears, essentially for climbing hills. It’s a lot of personal dedication; you’re riding 100 miles in one day on a bicycle. It takes a lot more than just athleticism; it takes
a lot of personal drive, and belief in what we’re doing this for.” M c D e r m o t t ’s ride is in honor of an officer who passed 84 years ago. On March 14, 1934, Deputy Marshall Robert Hammers of Kansas was killed in a bank robbery by a gang of men. Eighty one years later in 2015, his name was being added to the walls of the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial. McDermott met the late officer’s family following a casual dinner he and fellow officers were enjoying that same year in the nation’s capital. When they asked a woman at a neighboring table to take a picture of them, she learned of their purpose, and introduced them to her 92-year-old mom cont. on page 2