HOLLAND, Michigan — Michigan communities are coming together to pay their respects to Kalamazoo Deputy Ryan Proxmire, who lost his life in the line of duty Sunday evening. A Michigan-based cycling group, comprised of current, former members of law enforcement, along with some survivors of the fallen, embarked on its annual journey, with Deputy Proxmire weighing heavily on their minds.
2021 marks the third consecutive year that the Michigan Police Unity Team rides from Stevensville, Mich. (near Benton Harbor) north to Petoskey, Mich.
The four-day ride covers nearly 370 miles.
"My brother Scott Stewart was a Detroit Police officer when he was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2002," said Andrea Arrington, MPUT rider and president of Michigan Concerns of Police Survivors. "I ride for him and all of the fallen Michigan officers."
This year's ride has been locked on MPUT's calendar for quite some time, but none of the members thought the journey would start one day after another one of their brothers would be lost.
"We have stops along the way where we will read and pay tribute to officers who are memorialized there," added Arrington. "Even though our trek doesn't take us through Kalamazoo or Three Rivers, we plan to honor Deputy Proxmire at one of our stops."
The first leg of their journey covers 108 miles, ending in downtown Muskegon, where the group will spend the night at a hotel. The second leg on Tuesday will take the riders from Muskegon to Manistee. The third leg on Wednesday from Manistee to Traverse City, with Thursday's final stretch from Traverse City to Petoskey.
"As we ride, the thought of all the fallen officers weighs on us heavily," said Kyle Kolka, DeWitt police officer. "Deputy Proxmire is fresh in our thoughts, for sure."
Since the incident that ultimately and tragically took Proxmire's life happened over the weekend, the group didn't have enough time to have buttons or stickers made to honor officer Proxmire, so they called an audible and created a unique way.
"For us to honor him, we decided to write his badge number [#4607] on the back of our legs," said Arrington. "Our legs are sore at the end of each day of riding, so there's no better place to have his number than there because it makes us remember why we're riding."
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