Officers carry torch

Published 9:44 pm Thursday, June 11, 2015

Suffolk police officers and sheriff’s deputies carry the Special Olympics flame along Bridge Road on Thursday. It is one of five torch runs that will meet in Richmond for tonight’s start of the games.

Suffolk police officers and sheriff’s deputies carry the Special Olympics flame along Bridge Road on Thursday. It is one of five torch runs that will meet in Richmond for tonight’s start of the games.

About a dozen Suffolk law enforcement officers on Thursday helped transport the Special Olympics flame toward Richmond, where the Summer Games for more than 1,300 athletes will officially open today.

The law enforcement torch run has been part of the Special Olympics since 1986, and participating officers have raised more than $17 million for the Special Olympics in that time frame, President Rick Jeffrey said. That includes more than $1.16 million just in the past year.

“They’re really quite remarkable,” Jeffrey said of the law enforcement officers. “Most of us, when we think of law enforcement, we think of only half of their mission, which is to protect and serve, but we probably only see the protect part. Their service to the community is huge.”

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The Suffolk contingent included three sheriff’s deputies and about eight or nine police officers. They planned to run 7.5 miles after receiving the handoff from Chesapeake police officers at the city line on Bridge Road. They then handed the torch off to Virginia State Police at the Isle of Wight County line.

It was part of one of five runs throughout the state, coming from the oceanfront and heading to Richmond. The others head to the capital from Northern Virginia, from the valley, from the North Carolina border and from the Tennessee border.

Officers meet up about a mile from the venue, the University of Richmond, and enter the darkened arena with thousands of athletes and fans waving glow sticks.

“It’s very exciting for our athletes,” Jeffrey said. “Our athletes revere these law enforcement men and women. There’s no bigger and better community that we’re involved with than the law enforcement community.”