"Ride to Remember" tour stops in Scottsbluff to honor Trooper Jerry Smith
Smith passed away in the line of duty on June 20, 2019. He was the 12th Nebraska State Trooper to fall in the line of duty.
By News Channel Nebraska
SIDNEY - 146 law enforcement members died in the line of duty in 2019. 145 members have been killed so far in 2020. We're only in the month of August.
A group of seven motorcycle riders and a pickup driver hauling a trailer with the names and photos of the fallen are traveling the United States to raise awareness of officers who lost their lives while serving last year.
Jagrut Shah, originally from Africa, is the Chairman of the Board for the "Beyond the Call of Duty" charity. He says the ride is to build a bridge between current officers and the families who lost loved ones in the line of duty, to let them know they haven't forgotten their law enforcement family members.
"We don't talk often," Shah said. "We lose someone and we just kind of, over coffee, we may say something a week or two weeks later. I really wanted them to see and talk, and that's what we're seeing happening now. We'll go to the departments we're representing, like I said 146. We're doing 30 states, 99 departments in 68 days."
The End of Watch Ride to Remember was in Scottsbluff on Saturday to honor Nebraska State Trooper Jerry Louis Smith, Jr., who passed away in the line of duty on June 20, 2019.
Shah, who retired as an officer in Washington state in 2015, spent time with officers and family members learning about Smith and sharing stories of other fallen officers across the country.
"He (Smith) was a decorated veteran," Shah said. "He got a bronze medal of honor for the war. Then he decided he wanted to become a state patrol officer for Nebraska. He's actually one of the very few oldest state patrol cadets. He, at 47-years-old, passed Nebraska's state patrol academy and became a deputy."
Smith was heavily involved with the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff's Office and their Polar Plunge event for Nebraska Special Olympics. He was the 12th Nebraska State Trooper to fall in the line of duty.
Shah calls the experience "very humbling."
"We'll get to the (police) department and the officers immediately recognize their officer," Shah said. "They go right to him or her and just start talking. The family members are the same."
The tour began in Washington state on June 1. They've traveled to Maine, Louisiana and Texas. By the end of the the trip, they will have traveled nearly 18,000 miles.
The riders left the Best Western Hotel in Sidney at 8:30 a.m. Sunday and will travel through Colorado before leaving for Provo, Utah on Monday morning. They will then head to Montana and back to Washington.
You can follow their journey on the EOW Ride to Remember Facebook Page.