S.C. Officers Make Trek to D.C. to Pay Respects

May 13--A warm reception greeted the 17 members of the Aiken Department of Public Safety who were on their way to Washington, D.C., to participate in National Police Week to honor Master Public Safety Officer Scotty Richardson.

A sendoff party was held by Beside The Badge Saturday morning at Public Safety Station No. 2. A caravan transported the members of Public Safety, including the members of Richardson's shift, the ADPS Color Guard and the bus driver, also a member of the Aiken Department of Public Safety.

It also happened to be the birthday of Officer Chris Lind, who is among the officers attending National Police Week.

A total of $17,000 was raised through the sale of the Beside The Badge T-shirts to send not only Richardson's shift to National Police Week in 2012 but also the shift of Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers in 2013.

"The family's going to caravan with us, and part of the family is going to meet us up there," said Capt. David Turno. "It's going to be a somber ride, but we're looking forward to it so we can pay respect to Scotty and to be there to support the family and the shift."

The members of Public Safety will stay through Wednesday to attend the memorials and for training sessions, said Turno.

A tremendous amount of work went into coordinating the logistics for the Public Safety officers attending National Police Week, including where to stay, what route to take, securing the vehicles and accommodating the number of people who were going on the trip, said Turno.

"The community came through in helping us raise the funds," he said. "It's heartfelt to know we're able to do this for the family and the officers."

The support of the members of the community who came out to the event was palpable.

"Today's the day we've been looking forward to," said Allison Comer, a member of Beside The Badge. "We've worked really hard to make sure that the guys had enough funds to make this special trip to Washington, D.C. It will be a very special moment to see the officers get on that bus."

The caravan departed around 9 a.m., and the crowd that assembled wished the departing officers well as they started their sojourn to the nation's capital.

"We're here to support the department," said Brenda Mills of Beside The Badge. "We hope that this shows a little bit of love that we feel for these guys. In the future, we're hoping to reach out more to the community, to thank them for their generosity. The community really opened their hearts."

Ben Baugh covers the equestrian beat and general assignments for the Aiken Standard. Among the awards Baugh has won include the 2003 Raleigh Burroughs Award as the turf writer making the most impact on the Florida Thoroughbred Industry.

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