APD officers running across Texas to honor fallen officers
Sergeant Ben Mewis and Detective Scott Baldridge are taking a 500 mile journey to honor fallen officers across the state and help support departments and families of officers who died in the line of duty.
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Sergeant Ben Mewis and Detective Scott Baldridge are taking a 500 mile journey to honor fallen officers across the state and help support departments and families of officers who died in the line of duty.
"The biggest thing about this run, it's going to be the largest one that we've ever done," said Mewis.
They'll start the journey on Nov. 3 from the Rio Grande in Laredo and end at the Red River in Gainesville. They anticipate the run will take about seven days.
The run will benefit the Peace Officers Memorial Foundation, which helps maintain memorials, hold memorial events and provide up-to-date information about line-of-duty deaths.
"When we come through Austin, our dept is coming out and will be representing our 29 fallen officers so I have 29 current APD officers who will relay every mile with us," Mewis said.
If this story sounds familiar, these two have been at this before. Mewis has taken on similar endeavors in the past to connect with the community and raise money for other charities. In the past, Baldridge has served as Mewis' primary support crew and has lead organizing efforts. This time, they'll both run.
Officers in other cities plan to join the two of them on certain legs of the race to show their support.
"Just a bunch of different groups coming together to help organize it, so we've been in touch with a bunch of other agencies and their associations," Baldridge said.
"They want to run with us," Mewis added. "And come take pictures with us and come support us and get the word out about what we're trying to do."
They plan to run through Austin the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 6.
What's Your Reaction?
