On Monday 30 April 2012, Police Bank Chairman Ken Moroney joined Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn with fellow Police Bank Director Tony Lauer and CEO Bruce Williams to send-off 14 serving NSW Police Officers who were leaving for the USA to join the Combined Law Enforcement Agencies of Texas (CLEAT) in the 11th annual ‘Ride for the Fallen’.

Assistant Commissioner Michael (Mick) Corboy has had a long association with CLEAT and had been inspired by the annual memorial ride which honours the ultimate sacrifices made by the many peace officers killed in the service of Texas. It’s this event that our own national “Wall to Wall Ride for Remembrance” is modelled. Hearing of the success of the Wall to Wall rides, CLEAT invited Michael to bring a contingent of riders to join their ride in the State Capital, Austin.

The Police Bank was one of the very first sponsors for the “Wall to Wall Ride for Remembrance” and proudly continues our association with this important national motorcycling and charity event. So it stood to good reason to support Mick and his colleagues in their endeavours to raise the profile of their Texas trip whilst they represented not only the NSW Police Force, but importantly reinforced our relationships and sense of good will with other police agencies around world.

On 5 May 2012, a very hot Saturday morning, the Australian contingent rode with over 500 Texan lawmen and women along Austin’s Interstate Highway 35 to the State Capital Building where the Texas Peace Officers’ Memorial has prominent place in beautiful and historic grounds.

In a sad contrast to the experiences of Australia, 16 names were read, each poignantly punctuated with the date on which their ‘end of watch’ is forever recorded. These were the Texas peace officers killed on duty in just the 12 months prior.

Each of the Australians took time to remember our own mates whose names are recorded on the National Police Memorial in Canberra. As Mick explained, “This was a very solemn, yet very proud moment for all of us – there really was a sense of the strong brotherhood and sisterhood of police camaraderie and the bonds our two countries share.”

Each of the riders paid for all their own expenses, including airfares, accommodation and bike hire. Police Bank was proud to support their efforts by sponsoring shirts, jackets and caps for the group to wear with pride. These items featured a specially designed logo that represented both Australia’s Ride for Remembrance and the Texas Ride for the Fallen (see above).

The group also organised and conducted a raffle to raise a further $6000 that has been donated to this year’s ‘Ride for Remembrance’ in support of our Police Legacy organisations.Congratulations to all who participated.

REMEMBERING MATES: SET THE DATE