For the sixth consecutive year the Directorate of Emergency Services Police Academy participated in the annual Torch Run for the Special Olympics of Maryland June 2.
Thirty-six academy students, the largest group yet, participated in the run that began after deputies from the Harford County Sheriff's Office from Havre de Grace passed the torch to them in front of the Ryan's' Furniture store on Route 40 in Aberdeen.
Academy Commander Capt. Dawn Fischer led the runners aided by four instructors - police officers Martin Cade, Cal Rolfes, Eric Semke and senior instructor Mike Mitchell.
Fischer said the students, all Department of Defense police officers, were from federal agencies all over the country, including Puerto Rico and Alaska. Eight will remain at APG while the rest will return to thier units.
"It's a very diverse group," Fisher said. "We have one runner who at age sixty-two still runs in marathons and another who survived an IED explosion in Iraq. And, we have five females, the most ever in one class."
The academy lasts 9 weeks and the current class graduates June 26, Fischer said. She added her thanks to Mike Farlow, DES detective and community policing officer who organizes the run each year.
As the group waited to rendezvous with the Havre de Grace runners, Lt. John Newnan, of the Howard County Police Department and state law enforcement coordinator for the Torch Run, thanked the group for their participation. He said that 98 groups around the state participate in the run and in the Polar Bear Plunge every year to support the Special Olympics in addition to groups in 46 countries around the world.
"No other profession is as united as one as law enforcement," Newnan said. "We are so pleased that you are out here every year to show your support. You are our future."
Harford County Sheriff deputies in vehicles and on motorcycles escorted the runners and controlled traffic as the group ran down Route 40 to the Aberdeen Police Department where they were greeted by police chief Randy Rudy. The runners expressed enthusiasm for their venture.
"I loved it," said James Jacobs a 62-year-old police officer from Fort Bragg, N.C. "I do a lot of walking and my goal was to make this two-mile run," he said. "The group support was outstanding. They gave me good encouragement and kept me motivated."
Police officer Vincent Petersen, a St. Croix, Virgin Islands, native with the Augusta, Ga., Police Department, called cadence for a portion of the run. An Army retiree, Petersen, age 60, still runs marathons.
"It was a good run but not long enough," Petersen said, adding that he appreciated the purpose as well as his comrades.
"Giving back to the community is so important and this really made our tour here," he said. "This class is very diverse. We're from different places, in different age groups, and we've been together for forty days. I've made new friends for life.
"And I like how this post operates," he added. "They look out for their officers, and the instructors are very knowledgeable."
Police Officers Ashley Culbert from Fort Lewis, Wash., and Erica Calderon of Fort A.P. Hill, Va., said they liked running in formation better than running on their own.
"It motivates you to run with your peers around you," Culbert said. "It's not every day you participate in something so meaningful."
Calderon, who has an Autistic 5-year-old son, said she was already familiar with the Special Olympics and she appreciated the support of her classmates.
"I like running anyway, and I love this class," she said. "They're so supportive. We have a great time together and the instructors are awesome."
Harford County Sheriff encourages police participation in Torch Run
For the past four years, police officers from the Aberdeen Proving Ground Police Academy have participated in the annual Torch Run for the Special Olympics of Maryland; taking the torch at the Aberdeen/Havre de Grace border and running in platoon formation to pass it to the City of Aberdeen police department which then passes it on to Baltimore County.
Every year the group is escorted by deputies from the Harford County Sheriff's Office which is led by Sheriff L. Jesse Bane, who may be the county's biggest supporter of SOMD.
Bane called his support "kind of a personal thing." He has a brother with cerebral palsy, and he said that as a child he and his Family would attend the Special Olympics and watch his brother win ribbons and awards.
"It kind of made him a hero in our Family," Bane said. "No one else in our Family had ribbons. Without the Special Olympics, I'm not sure my brother would have been able to enjoy life to the extent that he has."
He said that if not for complications during his birth, he's certain his brother might have been an athlete.
"I had three brothers and three sisters and we lived out in the country and played together all the time," he said.
"When we played baseball, my brother could hit and throw with one hand."
He called the Special Olympics games an inspiring experience.
"When you go out there and see all those kids so enthusiastic just to be a part of it you realize that all of them are winners," he said. "Once you experience that - when you see how meaningful it is - you don't want to miss it."
Bane said he takes pride in what law enforcement agencies around the county - including APG's Directorate of Emergency Services police officers - do to support Maryland's special Olympians.
"I'm very proud to be a part of one of the biggest sponsors of Special Olympics of Maryland," he said. "It's another feather in our cap to show that we're not just enforcing the law but supporting our communities. We don't want to let those kids down.
"My reward is the greater satisfaction to see what law enforcement in Harford County is doing to support the Special Olympics of Maryland," Bane said.
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