5th Annual Officer Down Memorial Ride (ODMR) in Haymarket April 16

This Saturday April 16 will be the 5th Annual Officer Down Memorial Ride (ODMR) in Haymarket, VA.  The ride will start and end at Lion & Bull Restaurant with the first bikes out at 9:30 a.m. and last bikes out by 10:30 a.m. 

All bikes should be back by 1 p.m. and around 1:30 p.m. raffle prizes will be drawn and sponsors will be recognized.  Starting at 10 a.m. there will be live music, police officer motor unit demonstration, and numerous vendors on hand.  This year there will be a memorial garden and wreath laying ceremony to honor of all the fallen officers (128) and K9’s (27) from 2015.

This year’s Officer Down Memorial Ride is expected a to draw in excess of 600 motorcyclists from as far away at Michigan, Georgia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. 

The Officer Down Memorial Ride is a fundraiser that directly supports the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary.  The Officer Down Memorial Page is the Nation’s largest online memorial for Fallen Law Enforcement Officers and K9s.  The Officer Down Memorial Page is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Fairfax, VA that honors the memories and sacrifices of the more than 22,000 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty in our nation’s history. 

In addition to its primary mission of honoring the fallen, ODMP also partners with organizations that provide free bulletproof vests to officers, runs a No Parole for Cop Killers program to help ensure that cop killers remain behind bars, and works with initiatives like Below 100 that aim to improve officer safety and awareness.

ODMP was founded in 1996 by Chris Cosgriff, who was a freshman at James Madison University at the time.  Chris read a Washington Post article about the release of a murderer convicted of slaying two Prince George’s County, MD police officers who was going to be released after serving only 16 years.  Chris felt compelled to find a way to honor these and other fallen officers. Thus the Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. was created.  You can read Chris’s full story http://www.odmp.org/info/about-odmp  In 2.013, Chris followed his dream and became a sworn Law Enforcement Officer and currently works for a local police department.

ODMR was started when in 2010, Meg Hawkins, a local police officer, approached Cosgriff about starting a motorcycle ride to benefit ODMP. The Office Down Memorial Ride is held to raise awareness of the high number of law enforcement line of duty deaths that take place across the United States each year.  This all-day event centers around a 50-mile motorcycle ride and features live music, food, raffles, and a motor unit demonstration by a local police department. 

Since its inception, the Officer Down Memorial Ride has grown each year.  Over the past four years, ODMR has, according to a news release,
• Attracted more than 2,000 riders and participants
• Raised more than $80,000 to support law enforcement and
• Been attended by riders from as far away as Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Arkansas.