A team of 12 police officers plans to traverse the country on a three-week bicycle ride this spring, beginning April 15 in Los Angeles and ending in New Jersey. There they will join riders who will continue with other cyclists to the national law enforcement officers memorial in Washington D.C. during police week.

Led by LAPD Senior Lead Officer Craig White, the group strives to raise money and awareness of the national memorial.

White has participated in the national Police Unity Tour bike ride for the past six years. But along the traditional route for the fundraiser, cyclists only travel from New Jersey to Washington.

“We thought there was no better fitting way to honor the tenth anniversary of the Police Unity Tour and to honor all the people whose names are on the wall than to ride across country and bring more attention to them,” says White. “The thing is, a lot of people don’t even realize there’s a law enforcement memorial.”

With multiple stops along the 23-day ride, White and his team hope to correct that misconception. The 12 cyclists from agencies in Southern California, New York, and New Jersey plan to attend remembrance ceremonies in several cities where they will present memorial batons engraved with the words, “Tenth Anniversary of Police Memorial Unity Ride,” to be displayed in local officer memorials so fallen officers will never be forgotten.

For more information and to donate visit www.policeunitytoursocal.org, or www.policeunitytour.org, or www.nleomf.org.