By Megan Sims
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Hundreds of motorcycles honoring fallen police officers flooded Downtown Cleveland streets on Sunday.
The 16th annual Cops Ride was organized to raise money to honor the memory and families of fallen police officers. The proceeds from this year’s ride will be split between the Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial and Ohio Concerns of Police Survivors, or C.O.P.S.
The ride comes just after nearly back-to-back shootings that killed Northeast Ohio officers Jacob Derbin of the Euclid police department and Jamieson Ritter of the Cleveland Division of Police.
This year, an estimated 400 motorcycles lined Lakeside Avenue between West 3rd and Ontario streets. Two Cleveland fire trucks marked the starting line as the American flag towered between them.
Prior to the ride, which took the riders from downtown through the Shoreway to South East Harley-Davidson in Bedford Heights, there was a brief ceremony in front of the Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial, located across the street from Cleveland Municipal Court.
During the ceremony, the Cleveland Police Honor Squad presented the colors prior to the National Anthem. Following this, several speakers came forward to talk about Derbin, Ritter and other Ohio officers killed since 2023.
Derbin was killed in an ambush in May after responding to a domestic disturbance. The shooter was later found dead in a Shaker Heights apartment following a standoff with police.
Ritter was killed in July while trying to serve a warrant on a suspect wanted for shooting his grandmother. The shooter was later arrested.
“Officer Jamieson Ritter was an exceptional police officer,” said Robert Tucker , Cleveland police third district commander. “But more importantly, he was an even better human being. Ritter is a great example that you don’t have to have rank to be a leader.
“He was courageous and he is a true hero to his family, his friends and the Cleveland Community. I promise you will never be forgotten.”
Euclid police Capt. Mitch Houser spoke about Derbin:
“We lost the life of a son, a soldier, a loved fiancé, police officer, and that void in our hearts, and our souls, understandably might have been backfilled with hatred, fear, and that ongoing question of why,” he said. “And those will be very normal emotions for all of us. But we can’t leave them that we can’t leave that hatred, that despair.”
Cuyahoga County Sheriff Harold Pretel remarked about the importance of the families that support officers that get left behind when an officer dies in the line of duty.
“What they do is help us toe the line. What they do is allow the rest of us to have a normal life. By you being here today, you should support that,” Pretel continued.
While the Cleveland Police Pipes & Drums played “Amazing Grace,” attendees had a final moment of silence before the revving of motorcycles flooded the downtown streets for miles.
Riders were escorted along their route by officers from several jurisdictions.
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