A memorial honoring the lives of fallen police officers made its way through Connecticut on Tuesday.
The End of Watch: Ride to Remember Rolling Memorial from the non-profit organization Beyond the Call of Duty made its first stop in the state in Bristol, a community still reeling from the loss of two police officers in 2022.
Lt. Dustin Demonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy were shot and killed in an ambush when responding to a call at a home in October of 2022. Their photos were marked by flowers on the memorial trailer.
“It means a whole lot to the whole community, the police department, keeping their memory alive is essential,” said Bristol Police Chief Mark Morello. “It’s far too common that we see police officers paying the ultimate sacrifice day in and day out, almost on a weekly basis, law enforcement members throughout the country are dying.”
This year’s memorial honored those who passed away in 2022 and 2023. The memorial has traveled all over the country and will head to New York and Pennsylvania after a stop in New Haven.
“We’re on day 39 out of 73,” said Allison McCarter, a member of the organization who’s leading the memorial on her motorcycle. “We left Washington state on June 1st, and we’ll return back to Washington state on August 12th. So, we’re about 12,000 miles into 23,000 miles total.”
McCarter and her riding partner, Damian Ervin, said they’re frequently stopped along the way by people curious about the memorial. They said that’s what it’s all about – keeping the fallen officers’ lives and legacies alive.
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“We are literally stopped at every gas station, hotel, parking lot, stop signs -- even driving down the highway, people go to pass us and they see what’s on the memorial and they’ll pace us for a little bit to continue to look at their faces,” McCarter said. “It’s an incredible thing to see. So many people across the nation actually coming together and showing their respect.”
