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Duke in Pics: Bike Ride Honors Fallen Officers

Law enforcement group stops at Duke on the way to a memorial service and vigil in D.C.

Duke Police Sgt. Mark Faust, at the front, leads bicyclists of Law Enforcement United, a national group that honors the memory of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, during a memorial stop on Duke campus Friday morning.

Cathy Carter stood along Oregon Street on Duke’s Central Campus waving a small American flag as police patrol cars, motorcycles and dozens of bicyclists glided by.

The bicyclists represented Law Enforcement United, a national organization comprised of law enforcement officers and family members of fallen law enforcement officers. They made a memorial stop at the Devil’s Den Friday morning. 

The bicyclists were joined by members of the Duke and Durham police departments and family and friends to remember three law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

Carter, assistant director of Duke Trinity College of Arts and Sciences Facilities, came to honor her son, Durham Police Officer Charles J. Callemyn, who died in a 2007 car accident while responding to back up another officer at a traffic stop. Callemyn also served on the Duke University Police Department from 2000 to 2005. During Friday’s memorial stop, Carter was greeted by many Duke officers who stopped by to show support.

“This is how they make sure that fallen law enforcement officers will never be forgotten,” she said.

The bicyclists are traveling nearly 1,000 miles from Jacksonville, Florida, to Washington D.C. to raise awareness of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. They will attend a memorial service in the capitol during National Police Week. Six members of the Duke University Police Department will join the trek on May 9 by bicycling to Chesapeake, Virginia, and then joining hundreds of officers on the last leg to D.C.

On Friday, Law Enforcement United also paid homage to Durham Police Cpl. Billy Thomas Gregory, who died from a heart attack while on duty in 2004, and Deputy Sheriff William Frederick “Bill” Schuck III from the Oconee County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina, who was struck and killed by a vehicle in 2010.

During a brief ceremony, Duke Chief of Police John Dailey thanked Law Enforcement United for stopping at Duke.

“It just shows the unselfishness of so many people that get into this profession,” Dailey said. “Here they are, riding for families and for fallen members. That’s what’s remarkable about this profession. It really is about people serving other people.”

Joshua Callemyn, one of Charles Callemyn’s sons, attended the memorial stop at Duke. He is 17 years old and about to graduate from Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough. He said bicycling officers who have never met his dad carry his dad’s flag with them to D.C. just to honor the Callemyn family.

“It’s just really nice seeing everyone coming together for one cause and to keep all of our officers remembered,” Joshua said.