{"id":194972,"date":"2022-08-25T13:16:05","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T13:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/?p=194972"},"modified":"2022-08-25T13:16:05","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T13:16:05","slug":"essex-police-federation-takes-part-in-police-unity-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/?p=194972","title":{"rendered":"Essex Police Federation takes part in Police Unity Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of Essex Police officers, including the Chief Constable and Police Federation reps, cycled 280 miles <\/span>in last week\u2019s UK Police Unity Tour in honour of officers who have died in the line of duty.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cyclists stopped at Drayton Manor in Staffordshire to join up with colleagues from around the country and meet the families of fallen officers, before continuing to the nearby National <\/span>Memorial Arboretum to attend the COPS (Care of Police Survivors) Service of Remembrance.<\/span><\/p>\n

For <\/span>Essex Police Federation Vice Chair Steve Martin it was the eighth time he\u2019d taken part in the tour. He admitted he found the cycling \u201cvery hard\u201d, but added: \u201cIt\u2019s a personal achievement to do the whole ride and as you\u2019re riding you remember what you\u2019re doing it for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cFor me, Drayton Manor is the best part of the ride, when you ride in and see the families \u2013 you are clapped and cheered in. They\u2019re happy to see you, they understand what you\u2019ve ridden for, you get to pass them the memorial bands that you wear as you ride on the tour. And you also get together with all the other chapters. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year I struggle with the ride and I say I\u2019m not going to do it again, but I will do it again next year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Essex Police Federation Chair Laura Heggie was there to see the cyclists off, before making her way to the Remembrance Service. She said: \u201cIt was a massive achievement for them. Seeing all the riders come in was just fantastic. They deserve the round of applause they all got.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cIt\u2019s quite emotional. The service brings it home, what it\u2019s all about. Listening to the families talk about their experiences, and how valuable it was to have other people that have been through the same things, it really is heart-breaking. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke to Caroline, the sister of Mark Estall, the Essex officer who died on duty in 2017, and she said it shouldn\u2019t be a sad event. It\u2019s for people to come together, united in their grief, but able to celebrate and remember their loved ones. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all been about.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of Essex Police officers, including the Chief Constable and Police Federation reps, cycled 280 miles in last week\u2019s UK Police Unity Tour in honour of officers who have\u2026 read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=194972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195074,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194972\/revisions\/195074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/195043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=194972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=194972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=194972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}