Coppers on Choppers Hit Route 66

Image: A big ride for a bigger cause

In August this year police from across Australia will fire-up an assortment of Harley Davidson motorbikes to thunder across the U.S.A.’s famous Route 66 between Chicago and Santa Monica in California. The ride is helping raise funds for Police Legacies.

Just like Legacy Australia, which takes care of the families of servicemen and women injured or killed while serving, police legacies in each jurisdiction look after the families of sworn and unsworn members killed on duty or who died in service.

While riders will fund their own expenses for the ride, two young legatees are being sponsored to join the adventurous biker pack of around 20 rumbling Harleys.

Legatee Brittney Johnsen, who was only 15 when her father, Australian Federal Police Commander Mark Johnsen died in 2010 says she will honour her father on the 4,000 kilometre journey.

CMDR Johnsen was appointed second-in-command of the AFP contingent sent to help restore law and order as part of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands in 2003. As a police negotiator he was sent to Baghdad, Iraq in 2004 to seek the release of an Australian hostage, Douglas Wood. In 2009 he was promoted to commander and posted to Brisbane. Tragically, he died of illness in September 2010.

The now 22 year-old Brittney said one of the saddest, yet proudest moments of her life was receiving her father’s police medals at his funeral, which was attended by 1,000 people. “That incredible show of support made us realise so many people cared about our dad, and soon after this, AFP Legacy came into our lives and took our family under their wing,” Brittney said.

BrandNet, the team behind Military Voice and Australia's online military shops for all services, is proud to support AFP Legacy and has helped out with some special deals on an assortment of Aussie trinkets and gifts that should help our riders build relationships with the locals along the route. You can also support our coppers on choppers. Police legacies are not-for-profit charitable organisations which rely on the generosity of sponsors, money raised through fundraising, the sale of merchandise, and the generous payroll deductions made by many police employees. 

You can donate to AFP Legacy through their Route 66 Ride for Police Legacy fundraising portal or simply Google your local state or territory Police Legacy to support police families in your community.

Whichever Legacy you support you will be making a difference to the lives of ordinary people impacted by the loss of a loved one who served our community.