Committee ironing out details for Rouse Ride

ALBANY — While time — some five-plus years of it — has put some distance between the here and now and the horror of Dougherty County Police Department Lt. Cliff Rouse’s death in the line of duty, the loss felt by Rouse’s family, his friends and the law enforcement brotherhood he served with is just as fresh as it was on that Dec. 23 night that Rouse made the ultimate sacrifice.

Those closest to Rouse have sought to keep his memory alive in the years since his tragic death by holding a motorcycle ride fundraiser that, initially, benefited his surviving family members and, since then, fellow law enforcement officers who’ve shared Rouse’s fate.

A committee made up primarily of those who were particularly close to Rouse — including his former DCP Chief, Don Cheek, and members of his family — is in the final stages of planning the sixth Lt. Cliff Rouse Memorial Dice Ride, which is scheduled April 2. The committee is lining up sponsorships and getting the word out to riders about the annual event, which starts at American Legion Post 30 on Gillionville Road in Albany and makes a circuitous, 60-mile route through parts of Baker and Calhoun counties before ending back where it started.

“This has turned into something bigger than our wildest dreams,” Cheek, who retired as DCP chief in November of 2012, said during a meeting of the Rouse Committee Tuesday. “We held the first ride as a fundraiser for Cliff’s family, and every penny we’ve raised since then — except for money we set aside to give directly to the families of Georgia law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty — goes to the national COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors) organization.

“Over the years, we’ve raised around $63,000. That just goes to show you the kind of support we get from our community. When businesses we approach hear what the cause is, they rarely say no.”

The Rouse Ride has been so successful, outside groups approach committee members with a question that’s becoming commonplace.

“Folks will look at the size of our group and ask, ‘How did y’all do all that?’” committee member John Patton said. “It’s all because of the caliber of people who are in this group.”

The first Rouse Ride was hastily organized as a way to help Rouse’s family in the aftermath of the shooting that claimed his life. Paul Murray was co-chair of that event.

“There were law enforcement officers from all over the state who came for the ride,” Murray said. “There was just this outpouring of support. We managed to raise $16,000 for Cliff’s family.”

The core group needed little prodding in deciding to continue the ride, but a visit from an official with the Georgia COPS chapter convinced organizers that that group should be the recipient of funds raised.

“The day after Cliff was shot, we were all numb,” Cheek said. “I remember talking to someone from COPS, but I really don’t know what I told him. Still, the next morning he was down here with a package of information that I quickly realized is vital to survivors of officers killed in the line of duty. There is funding, state and national, available to families, but they have to fill out a ton of paperwork. COPS helps them get through the bureaucracy.

“They also foot the bill for travel and accommodations for family members and a representative of the department that officers served with during Law Enforcement Memorial Week in the nation’s capital. During that week, the family sees their loved one’s name engraved on the Law Enforcement Memorial Wall. We decided this was an organization that we should support with the money we raised, and every penny since — except for some we set aside to make direct contributions — has gone to COPS.”

That “other” money set aside last year by the Rouse Committee has gone in $500 increments to the families of seven Georgia officers killed in the line of duty in 2015: Montgomery County Sheriff Ladson O’Connor, Chatham County Deputy Sheriff Richard Allen Hall, Fulton County Police Detective Terrence Avery Green, DeKalb County Police Officer Kevin Jermaine Toatley, Clayton County Police Officer Darryl Wallace, Georgia Ports Authority Cpl. William Solomon and MARTA Police Officer Jessie Arthaniel Tarpin.

“We had a group from Brunswick and Savannah ride here to present a check to Cliff’s family — that’s why I ride as a Blue Knight today — and we realized how much that meant to everyone,” Cheek said. “When we make the final two presentations (which were scheduled Wednesday but cancelled due to weather conditions), we will have travelled 1,800 miles this year to honor Georgia’s fallen officers.”

With the sixth Rouse Ride still a month and a half away, the committee has already gotten $150 sponsorship commitments from 69 local businesses and individuals. They will continue accepting sponsorships through March 4.

A full day of activities surrounding the Rouse Ride includes a $5 pancake breakfast at Post 30 from 8-10 a.m.; a $7 lunch from noon-2 p.m.; an after-party that includes music, food vendors, a growing number of auction items and a 50-50 money drawing; $5 raffle tickets for three big prizes, including an engraved AR-15 rifle (one ticket qualifies the ticket holder for all three drawings), as well as payouts of $150 for the ride’s best poker hand and $75 for the worst.

Ride participants, who pay a $25 fee, get a specially designed event T-shirt, a ride pin, and competition dice rolls in Albany, Newton and at Nothing Fancy restaurant in Leary. Additional passengers and dice roll hands may be purchased for $5 each.

To join the sponsors for the Rouse Memorial Ride, to register or to obtain additional information about the ride, which is sponsored by DCP, Georgia COPS, Post 30, the Blue Knights of Georgia and American Legion Post 335 of Sylvester, go online to [email protected] or Cliff Rouse Memorial on Facebook.