Cops to ride motorcycles in honor of fallen

Jared Jensen did not own a motorcycle, but he planned to. He had even bought a slick leather jacket just in case he decided to saddle up.

Most of Jensen’s friends and co-workers, after all, owned motorcycles. And in a month, these people plan to ride again — this time, in memory of Jensen and 21 other law enforcement officials who have died in the line of duty.

The 2010 Pikes Peak Fallen Officers Memorial Ride will take place June 13, continuing a tradition of honoring fallen officers while also offering the chance for bikers to hop on their motorcycles and ride roughly 125 miles across the Front Range.

The event, in its fifth year, began as the Jared Jensen Memorial Poker Run following the February 2006 shooting death of Jensen, a detective with the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence Division.

It was renamed, however, following the December 2006 shooting death of Kenneth Jordan, a Colorado Springs police officer.

This year, organizers plan to specifically honor Lt. Cecilia Cipriani-Benefiel, an El Paso County sheriff’s deputy who was slain in 1990. Her killing remains unsolved.

“It was a way for us to look back and just remember them,” said Joe Richardson, detective for the Colorado Springs Police Department. “That way, the sacrifice they made was not in vain — that somebody still remembers them.”

Registration for the event begins at 8 a.m. June 13 at Cowboys nightclub, 25 N. Tejon St. in Colorado Springs. Motorcyclists will depart from 9 to 10 a.m., with the ride concluding back at Cowboys following stops in Falcon, Sedalia and Palmer Lake.

Organizers are requesting a $20 donation from motorcycle riders, as well as a $5 donation from passengers.

For more information, call 487-8005 or visit www.ppfomr.com.

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Call the writer at 476-1654.