Police Unity Tour Riding Into Manchester Monday

MANCHESTER, NJ -- Fourteen riders representing the Manchester Township Police Department are on the road Monday morning, headed to Ocean County by bicycle for the first leg of the annual Police Unity Tour.

The annual event honors officers who have died in the line of duty and raises money for the the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, according to the Police Unity Tour website.

In 2015, the tour had more than 1,900 participants and raised nearly $2 million; it has now raised $18 million total for the memorial since the tour's inception in 1997, according to its website.

The Chapter 10 tour group (there are nine chapters with participants from all over the country) departed from the New Jersey State Police Troop C Headquarters in Hamilton Monday morning and is expected to reach Toms River about 4 p.m., according to an Asbury Park Press report. A ceremony is planned on Hooper Avenue after the riders arrive, according to the report.

The group is then expected to leave Toms River for Manchester about 5:30 p.m.

Among the riders in the Chapter 10 group, which covers Central New Jersey, are 14 riders from the Manchester Township Police Department. The group include Tracy Thompson, widow of Cpl. Scott R. Thompson, who died in 2015 while working out in the police department's gym.

On Tuesday, the tour will depart from Manchester and continue 70 miles to Atco, N.J., and Wednesday will cover 85 miles from Lewes, Del., to Annapolis, Md., according to the tour website.

From Annapolis the tour -- which includes more than 1,900 participants -- will cover the final 40 miles to Washington, D.C. on Thursday, where a ceremony will be held at the National Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial.

A candlelight vigil will be held on at the memorial on Friday, May 13, as part of National Police Week.

Watch the video of the departure of the Chapter 10 group, which also honored fallen NJ State Trooper Anthony Raspa with the unveiling of a memorial at the Troop C headquarters: