LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Clark County School District Police Department Lieutenants Bryan Zink and Michael Campbell will cycle from Somerset, New Jersey to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC.
They are joining more the 2,500 other law enforcement officers from around the country in the 300-mile bike ride Police Unity Tour.
The goal of the annual tour is to raise awareness for officers who have died in the line of duty and fundraise for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
“We have to do this to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we all have the freedoms that we have, and to be there to support each other and their families” Lt. Zink said.
This year, Zink and Campbell are riding to honor Michigan Deputy Bradley J. Reckling of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office who died on June 22, 2024.
This year’s bike ride is even more personal to Lt. Campbell. Before moving to the Las Vegas Valley in 2008, he worked for the Ecorse Police Department, a suburb outside of Detroit.
“During that time, I didn’t know that we had lost any officers there , and unfortunately, nobody else knew,” he recalled.
Decades later and after years of research, Lt. Zink discovered Ecorse Officer Benjamin Montie died in the line of duty in 1924. The Officer Down Memorial Page, which lists every law enforcement officer who’s died in the line of duty, writes that Montie was shot and killed while trying to arrest a man suspected of a bank robbery.
Then in 1943, Ecorse Officer John Hessler was shot and killed by the same suspect accused of killing Montie.
“It’s not about not being afraid of doing the job,” Lt. Campbell continued. “It’s about what you did in that moment when the fear is in you. These officers acted and unfortunately paid the ultimate sacrifice. We’re just here to carry on their legacy and tell their stories and be there for their family and for each other.”
With the help of Zink and other CCSDPD friends, Campbell got Hessler and Montie’s names added to the Michigan Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Monument in Lansing. The ceremony was last week.
“We were even able to sit down with John Hessler’s granddaughter, who is now in her 80s, and talk to her about it and sit down and have dinner with her. Just talk about what it means to her and her family,” Lt. Campbell added.
Their names will also be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
“Now nobody will ever forget again,” Lt. Campbell said. “It’ll be etched in stone.”
The lieutenants will start pedaling on Saturday. The bike tour ends Tuesday with a candlelight vigil where the named of every officer who died in the line of duty will be read and added to the national memorial.
Two Nevada troopers’, Sergeant Michael Abbate and Trooper Alberto Felix, will be added to the memorial. They were killed by a man driving under the influence during a call on November 30, 2023.
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