Ride to Remember stops in Maple Ridge to honour fallen officers

About 53 law-enforcement cyclists stopped at the Maple Ridge RCMP detachment on Thursday, Sept. 24, as part of the 12th annual Ride to Remember for fallen officers across British Columbia.

The riders met Nichole O’Brien, widow of Const. Rick O’Brien, paid their respects and presented her with a commemorative shirt before continuing to Victoria. O’Brien was killed while executing a search warrant in Coquitlam on Sept. 22, 2023.

The group is riding 406 kilometres over three days — three kilometres for each of the province’s 135 fallen officers. The ride also supports the families and colleagues of fallen officers, promotes public appreciation for law-enforcement service and helps maintain the BC Law Enforcement Memorial Bastion monument in Victoria. The monument, unveiled in 2004, stands in the Garden of Honour at the British Columbia Legislature.

The ride began at the Abbotsford Police Department and is scheduled to finish at the provincial monument on Sept. 27, followed by a planned memorial service at 1 p.m. Supt. Martin Guay, officer in charge of the Maple Ridge RCMP, said the detachment stands with the broader law-enforcement community in honouring fallen officers in Canada and around the world, including O’Brien.

Maple Ridge RCMP held a private ceremony on Sept. 22 to mark the third anniversary of O’Brien’s on-duty death. Nicholas Bellemare, charged with first-degree murder in O’Brien’s shooting and attempted murder for injuring another officer, has been tried in New Westminster Supreme Court. A verdict is scheduled for Oct. 23.