"The Fallen Peace Officer Trail is dedicated to the Utah men and women of
law enforcement who lost their lives in the line of duty and to those officers
seriously wounded, but who survived. In cooperation with the Utah
Peace Officers Association, Ride With Respect, and Utah
State Parks, this 14 mile trail is dedicated
to those who sacrificed while serving and protecting the citizens of Utah. We invite you to
ride with respect and honor these officers."
That is the inscription on a plaque
honoring fallen peace officers that will be commemorated next month at a
ceremony in Utah.
But unlike most memorials of this kind, it won't be placed on a pedestal in a
city park or state capitol building. It will be set in a boulder the size of a
Volkswagen, at the trailhead of an OHV trail named, appropriately, "Fallen
Peace Officer Trail."
The 24-by-36-inch plaque was
dedicated at a ceremony April 20 at the trailhead, located about 12 miles north of Moab. Organized
by the Utah Peace Officers Association (UPOA), it will be part of a day-long
event to honor Utah
peace officers who have died or been seriously wounded in the line of duty.
The
Fallen Peace Officer Trail itself is part of the Sovereign Trail System,
developed over the past decade by Ride with Respect, a non-profit organization
that maintains trails and educates off-highway vehicle (OHV) riders.
About a year ago, Clif Koontz, Ride with Respect program director and a NOHVCC State Partner, asked the UPOA
for permission to name a 14-mile loop of the Sovereign Trail in honor of Brody
Young, a Utah State Parks Ranger. In 2010, while patrolling public lands, Young
checked on a man sleeping in a car at another trailhead in the area and was
shot nine times. He survived the gun battle, undergoing multiple surgeries and more
than a year of physical therapy. Today, Young is back at work for Utah State
Parks, still carrying four bullets inside his body.
Koontz's
idea to name the trail after Young sparked something even larger.
"Ride with
Respect approached us about a year ago," said Rick Mayo, president of UPOA and
a recently retired Utah State Trooper. "They were interested in making it the
Brody Young Trail. Brody, being the humble man that he is, asked for it to be
called the Fallen Peace Officer Trail. So we took that name and ran with it.
With the backing of the UPOA, we were able to spend the time and money to
promote it and get all of the officers and public involved and invited to join
us at this event."
Young spoke at the memorial dedication begins at the
trailhead, near mile marker 141 on Highway 191. Also in attendance were other Utah peace officers who
are survivors of gun battles, representatives of agencies honoring officers who
died in the line of duty, and a number of state government officials.
"Over 100 officers in Utah have been killed in
the line of duty," said Mayo. "Each year, we'll honor 14 different officers.
It's a 14-mile trail and at each mile marker we'll honor and focus on one
officer."
The event was also a fundraiser,
complete with vendors and prizes, to help with the cost of the memorial, trail
maintenance and to provide scholarships to families of fallen officers. "It's
called the Brody Young 2010 Scholarship. 2010 is the year that he was shot, and
2010 will be the dollar amount of the scholarship," Mayo said.
Clif Koontz, at Ride with Respect,
is pleased with how things turned out. "The intent is to humanize and recognize
the sacrifices that have been made by these particular people, and made every
day," said Koontz. "A lot of rangers and police officers ride trails on ATVs
and motorcycles, so they're expecting a good turnout."
The Fallen Peace Officer Trail
offers spectacular views of Arches
National Park and the La
Sal Mountains. It's open to dirtbikes, ATVs and side-by-sides and is classified
as moderately difficult, featuring a variety of rocky washes, rock steps, and
sandy areas scattered with juniper trees.
According
to the website of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a law enforcement officer
is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States, on average, every 53
hours.
